An IED was used by suspected PKK terrorists against a military vehicle in Siirt, Turkey today. The Turkish forces have established security zones to combat PKK incursions from Northern Iraq, but they might be missing something in this.
The intelligence chiefs in Turkey really need to examine the IED in detail, for we know who is good at making IED’s. While it likely is the PKK, we know that Iran has operatives, and in some cases forces, in all neighboring countries. We know that they are working to destabilize all of their neighbors: from Iraq, to Pakistan, to Afghanistan, to Lebanon. It’s a theory that bears some investigation, especially since in some clashes with the PKK they have come from and retreated to the border of Iran. The sudden upsurge in PKK violence the past six months just smells a bit fishy to me.
From the AP story:Â
The bomb targeted a military vehicle near Siirt, a city 46 miles north of the Iraq border, the governor’s office said. It killed three soldiers and wounded six other security personnel, including pro-government village guards, the office said.
Turkey has grown increasingly frustrated with the rise in attacks by the PKK rebel movement, and its leaders have sent more troops to the frontier while publicly raising the possibility of sending the army into northern Iraq.
On Wednesday, the military said it was establishing “temporary security zones” near the border. The declaration came the same day that Turkish security officials and an Iraqi Kurdish official said hundreds of Turkish soldiers crossed the border pursuing guerrillas.
One other note on this — notice how the AP classifies PKK as “rebels”. The idiot press always gets confused about classifications, but the purposeful targeting of civilians over the years by PKK puts them clearly in the Terrorist class.