Turkish forces kill 68 Kurdish guerrillas in week-long action

Turkish security forces have killed 68 Kurdish guerrillas in the week-long hunt for separatist rebels who shot dead 33 soldiers and two civilians in a bus ambush, Reuter reports from Ankara.

Twenty-eight of the Kurdistan Workers Party guerrillas were believed involved in the ambush, according to Unal Erkan, regional governor in Diyarbakir city. He said 50 people had been detained and two guerrillas surrendered. Security forces seized guns, rockets, ammunition and 10lb of hashish.

Ismet Metin, governor of the eastern province of Agri, said security forces were preparing to destroy guerrilla bases near the Agri and Tendurek mountains, where 10 rebels were killed in operations in the past two days.