Update on PKK Violence (October 1-7, 2008)

UNCLAS ANKARA 001793 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV TU IZ SUBJECT: Update on PKK Violence (October 1-7, 2008) REF: ANKARA 1740 and previous (U) Sensitive but unclassified - please protect accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) This is another in a series of weekly reports on PKK violence in Turkey. Our primary source is the Turkish General Staff (TGS) website, which documents contacts and clashes with the PKK, as well as casualties incurred. ¶2. (U) During the October 1-7, 2008 reporting period, 19 security officials died in clashes with the PKK, including 17 in the ambush on the Aktutun border outpost on October 3. Another 21 were injured in the Aktutun attack. The total number of security force casualties for the year through October 7, 2008, was 127 killed and 188 injured. ¶3. (U) During the same period, 29 PKK terrorists were killed in the clashes, including 23 following the Aktutun raid. One PKKer was captured and another two surrendered. According to official TGS website figures, through the first week of October, the number of PKK militants killed this year was 631, the number of those captured was 138, and the number of those who surrendered was 128. ¶4. (U) During the reporting period one citizen was injured by a PKK IED on October 7 in Pervari, Siirt Province. The total number of civilian casualties for the year through the end of the first week of October, was 43 killed, with another 245 wounded. WILSON