Scores killed in Kurdish rebel attacks near Iraq border

Kurdish rebels attacked police and military posts in a town near the Iraqi border with long range weapons and rocket launchers, killing 10 security force members, a Turkish official said today.

The attack on security forces in the town of Beytussebap late Sunday triggered clashes that also killed several Kurdish militants, Vahdettin Ozkan, the governor for the southeastern Sirnak province told the state-run Anadolu Agency. He did not say how many rebels were killed.

The rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, is fighting for self-rule in southeast Turkey in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people since 1984.

The rebels often stage hit-and-run attacks from bases across the border in northern Iraq. Turkey is now concerned that the chaos in Syria is opening up a new base for the PKK, which has long been suspected of having ties to Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.

There has been a surge in attacks in recent months, including a deadly bombing near the Syrian border on Aug. 20 blamed on the rebels. Government officials have said Turkey was investigating whether another country was involved in the attack.

The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

AP