Two Turkish policemen killed in Kurdish attack
Two Turkish policemen killed in Kurdish attack
The policemen were killed in a drive by shooting in the southern Turkish town of Adana in an attack officials blamed on the PKK on Monday.
2 min read
Nearly 150 soldiers and police have been killed in the latest round of violence [Getty]
Two Turkish police were killed in the southern town of Adana on Monday in an attack by Kurdish rebels, a press report said, quoting local officials.
Assailants riding on a motorcycle opened fire on a police car outside a hospital and then fled, the Dogan press agency said.
One died instantly and the second died after emergency surgery, it said, quoting the local governor, Mustafa Buyuk.
"Early indications are that it was an attack by the terrorist organisation," Buyuk said, in a reference to the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The Turkish government launched a major campaign against the PKK in late July, aimed at forcing it out of strongholds in southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq.
The group has hit back hard, killing dozens of police and soldiers in almost daily bomb and shooting attacks.
Nearly 150 soldiers and police have been killed in attacks since July blamed on the PKK compared with more than 1,300 rebels, according to pro-government media. The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democracy Party (HDP) says dozens of civilians have been killed in police and military operations.
The escalation comes ahead of snap elections on 1 November.
The violence has shattered a two-year-ceasefire which had raised hopes of an end to the PKK's three-decade long insurgency, in which more than 40,000 people have died.
Assailants riding on a motorcycle opened fire on a police car outside a hospital and then fled, the Dogan press agency said.
One died instantly and the second died after emergency surgery, it said, quoting the local governor, Mustafa Buyuk.
"Early indications are that it was an attack by the terrorist organisation," Buyuk said, in a reference to the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The Turkish government launched a major campaign against the PKK in late July, aimed at forcing it out of strongholds in southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq.
The group has hit back hard, killing dozens of police and soldiers in almost daily bomb and shooting attacks.
Nearly 150 soldiers and police have been killed in attacks since July blamed on the PKK compared with more than 1,300 rebels, according to pro-government media. The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democracy Party (HDP) says dozens of civilians have been killed in police and military operations.
The escalation comes ahead of snap elections on 1 November.
The violence has shattered a two-year-ceasefire which had raised hopes of an end to the PKK's three-decade long insurgency, in which more than 40,000 people have died.
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