PKK kills three in oil field attack in southeastern Turkey
DİYARBAKIR - Reuters
Security forces launched and operation to capture the assailants. DHA photo
Alleged members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) killed three people in an attack on an oil field in southeast Turkey overnight, security officials said today.
PKK militants shot dead two security personnel and an electrician as they got out of their vehicle at the Selmo oil field at Kozluk in Batman province yesterday night, the officials said.
The Canadian firm Transatlantic Petroleum Ltd. operates the Selmo field and describes it as the second largest in Turkey. Transatlantic said in a statement it was working with local authorities to investigate the incident.
An air-backed operation was launched at dawn in pursuit of the PKK members, security officials said.
Batman Governor Ahmet Turhan said operations at the oil field were continuing.
More than 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK took up arms against the state in 1984.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist group by the United States, European Union and Turkey.
