VZCZCXRO9332
RR RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHAK #1453 2260842
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 130842Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7136
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEHAK/USDAO ANKARA TU
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC//USDP:PDUSDP/ISA:EUR/ISA:NESA//
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RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFISS/425ABG IZMIR TU//CC//
RHMFISS/39ABG INCIRLIK AB TU
RUEPGAB/MNF-I C2X BAGHDAD IZ

UNCLAS ANKARA 001453 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV TU IZ
SUBJECT: Update on PKK Violence (August 1-7, 2008) 
 
REF: ANKARA 1452 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 August 1-7, 2008 reporting period, five village 
guards were killed and another five were injured in a clash in 
Beytussebap, Sirnak Province on August 1.  The total number of 
security force casualties for the year through August 7, 2008, was 
68 killed and 103 injured. 
 
¶3. (U) During the same period, eight PKK terrorists were killed 
during the August 1 Beytussebap clash.  An additional two PKKers 
were captured and six surrendered.  According to official TGS 
website figures, through the first week of August, the number of PKK 
militants killed this year was 562, the number of those captured was 
120, and the number of those who surrendered was 98. 
 
¶4. (U) An explosion in a valve of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil 
pipeline occurred on August 5.  According to media reports, the 
military wing of the PKK claimed responsibility.  However, pipeline 
officials believe the cause may have technical malfunction.  A PKK 
explosive derailed a train near Guroymak, Bitlis Province on August 
¶6.  Nobody was injured in either incident.  One civilian was injured 
in an IED explosion near Guclukonak, Sirnak Province on August 4. 
An additional three civilians were injured when four mortars were 
fired in the vicinity of the 1st Army Headquarters in Istanbul on 
August 6.  GOT authorities believe the attack was carried out by the 
PKK, but that has not been confirmed.  The total number of civilian 
casualties for the year through the end of the first week of August, 
40 killed, with another 229 wounded, including the three civilians 
injured in the mortar attack in Istanbul. 
 
SILLIMAN