By Xinhua,
Ankara : Eight more rebels of the outlawed Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) surrendered to Turkish Security Forces in southeastern Turkey on Thursday, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.
Some eight PKK rebels escaped from the base in northern Iraq surrendered to Turkish army in Silopi town of southeastern province of Sirnak, said the report, adding that the total number of PKK rebels surrendered to Turkish army during the last few days mounted to nine.
Turkish General Staff said in a statement issued early Thursday that one PKK rebel who escaped from PKK base in northern Iraq surrendered to security teams in southeastern province of Batman on Tuesday.
The Turkish military has periodically bombed and shelled suspected PKK positions in Turkish border area with Iraq during the past few months. In February it launched an eight-day ground incursion into Iraq.
The PKK, listed by the United States and Turkey as a terrorist group, took up arms against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in the southeast. More than 30,000 people have been killed in the over-two-decade conflict.