Kurds Downed 2 Helicopters, Turkey Admits
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ANKARA, Turkey — The military acknowledged Friday that Kurdish rebels downed two helicopters in northern Iraq with missiles, killing 13 soldiers. The crashes had been blamed on mechanical failures.
Gen. Erol Ozkasnak, secretary-general of Turkey’s joint chiefs of staff, said the rebels used Russian-made SA-7 shoulder-fired missiles from the former Soviet republic of Armenia.
One helicopter was downed this week, the other last month. Rebels fired missiles at two other helicopters last week but missed, Ozkasnak said.
Ozkasnak said the rebels had obtained as many as 60 missiles. He said Syria, Greece, Cyprus and Serbia helped in the purchase of the missiles as well as in the training to use them. He did not elaborate.
The Turkish military launched a cross-border incursion into Iraq three weeks ago to wipe out rebel bases there. Ozkasnak claims that the military has killed 2,252 rebels during the offensive and has lost 95 soldiers. The claim could not be verified independently.
Rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party have been waging a guerrilla war for autonomy in southeast Turkey since 1984.
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