Turkish soldiers taken hostage in clash with Kurds

abc.net.au

Fighting between Turkish soldiers and Kurdish rebels has left several dozen combatants dead, in clashes that look likely to lead to cross-border retaliation into Iraq.

A spokesman for Turkey's banned Kurdistan Workers' Party, known as the PKK, says a number of soliders have also been taken hostage.

The Turkish Army has sent reinforcements to the area, and the government has convened an emergency security meeting to decide on its response.

Meanwhile, sources in Turkey say hours after the attack, 10 civilians were injured when a mine exploded as a minibus drove past near Daglica, in an attack which has also been blamed on PKK rebels.

The clashes come only days after Turkey's parliament authorised the army to conduct cross-border raids into Iraq to pursue rebels.