Kurdish Militants Claim They Killed 15 Turkish Soldiers in an Ambush

Kurdish militants claim they killed 15 soldiers in an attack on an army convoy in southeast Turkey on Sunday, and a security source said the military responded with airstrikes.

In a statement posted online, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) said its guerrillas ambushed a convoy of armored vehicles in Yuksekova district, near the border with Iran and Iraq. If confirmed, it could be the bloodiest assault since the collapse of a ceasefire in July.

"An attack from several sides left 15 soldiers dead, and a large number of weapons were seized in the action," the statement read.

The number of casualties could not be independently verified, but President Tayyip Erdogan confirmed in a televised statement that an incident had taken place in Hakkari province, which includes the Yuksekova district.

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The ambush reportedly took place near the village of Daglica, which was the scene of a PKK attack in 2007 in which 12 Turkish soldiers were killed and eight captured.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who had been watching the national soccer team playing in the city of Konya, left the stadium early to return to the capital as news of the attack broke.

A senior security official told Reuters that Turkish jets had retaliated, hitting at least 10 PKK targets, including those behind the ambush.

A string of clashes since July have killed at least 70 members of the security services and hundreds of PKK militants.

The PKK has fought a three-decades-long insurgency against the government, demanding greater Kurdish autonomy. The group is listed as a terrorist organization in both Europe and the United States.

Each side blames the other for the collapse of the ceasefire, which has left efforts to bring a lasting end to the conflict in tatters.

"A new strategy will be adopted in the fight against terror. We'll continue with determination," Erdogan said in his televised address.

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