Turkish troops clash with PKK members near Iraqi border

16/10/2008

ANKARA, Turkey -- The army says five Turkish soldiers and five members of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) died in fighting that began on Wednesday (October 15th) in the southeast, near the Iraqi border. The military says another Turkish soldier died and 15 suffered injuries when a helicopter carrying reinforcements crashed. The PKK says it shot it down, while the army blames a mechanical problem.

In other news, passengers foiled an attempted hijacking aboard a Turkish Airlines plane travelling from the Turkish resort of Antalya to St. Petersburg, Russia, on Wednesday. The suspected hijacker reportedly sent a note to the pilot saying he had a bomb and was commandeering the plane. Passengers ended up overpowering the man, but authorities never found a bomb or weapon. Russian police detained the hijacker, whom they said was drunk. (BBC - 16/10/08; NTV, Hurriyet, Interfax, RIA Novosti, Reuters, Anadolu news agency, Dogan news agency - 15/10/08)