Violence flares in Turkey's tense southeast after mayors' arrest
ISTANBUL - Five members of Turkey's security forces and five Kurdish militants were killed on Thursday in clashes in the southeast where unrest has flared since the arrest this week of two popular mayors.
Two soldiers were killed in a clash near Hani, a town outside Diyarbakir, the region's biggest city, security sources said. A third died in a firefight near Cukurca near the Iraqi border, where five militants were also killed, they said.
A soldier was killed by a homemade explosive device in Bingol, 140 km north of Diyarbakir, and a member of a state-backed militia was killed in Batman province to the east.
Violence has escalated in the 15 months since the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) called off a two-year ceasefire, and the arrest of Diyabakir Mayor Gultan Kisanak and her co-mayor Firat Anli late on Tuesday on terrorism charges has caused further resentment.
