Seven killed in clash in SE Turkey

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Sep 15 (Reuters) Five Kurdish separatist guerrillas, a Turkish soldier and a village guard were killed during an armed clash in eastern Turkey today, security sources said.

Village guards are recruited locally by the authorities to fight militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

''One village guard was killed along with three PKK terrorists in a clash in Van province,'' a security official told Reuters.

Later, security sources confirmed the death of two more guerrillas and of the soldier.

The official said security forces had also discovered shelters used by the militants in nearby Agri province.

Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since the group launched its armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984. Clashes between the militants and security forces have increased in recent months.

Today, the Turkish police said they were fairly sure the PKK was behind a bomb blast on Tuesday evening in Diyarbakir, largest city of the mainly Kurdish southeast, which killed 10 people, mostly children, and wounded 16 others.

The PKK has denied any involvement in that blast.

A paramilitary policeman was also lightly hurt when two assailants hurled a hand grenade in a village near the holiday resort of Marmaris in southwest Turkey today.

Kurdish militants believed linked to the PKK claimed responsibilty for a series of bomb blasts in the Marmaris area last month in which 27 people were injured.

Reuters SAM VP0005