ANKARA: Suspected Kurdish rebels opened fire on a military convoy and wounded five soldiers in southeast Turkey, a report said Friday, while police acting on a tip deactivated a bomb near a police station in the Turkish capital. The attack and the discovery of the bomb comes at a time when police are on alert against heightened violence by Kurdish rebels before the Aug. 15 anniversary of their first attack on Turkish targets in 1984. Kurdish rebels have been fighting for autonomy in Turkey's southeast in a conflict has killed as many as 40,000 people. The state-run Anatolia news agency said suspected Kurdish rebels fired on the military convoy with long-range weapons late Thursday in the town of Yuksekova, close to the border with Iraq. The military later increased its presence in Yuksekova, sending convoys of tanks driving through its streets in the night, Anatolia news agency video footage showed. On Friday, police deactivated a bomb placed on a busy road some 100 meters (yards) from the headquarters of a riot police force, Anatolia and other news reports said. The bomb was made of 3.5 kilograms (7.72 pounds) of plastic explosives — a device similar to those used by rebels in the past, CNN-Turk television reported. Police would not comment on the reports. The rebels belonging to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, have been fighting for autonomy in Turkey's southeast. They intensified their attacks since June, saying the government has rejected their calls for a dialogue. The group is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.
