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Kurdish rebels kidnap seven people in Turkey: reports

ANKARA, Nov 12, 2007 (AFP) - Separatist Kurdish rebels kidnapped seven people, two of them pro-government "village guard" militiamen, in eastern Turkey near the Iranian border, media reports said Monday.

The incident occurred late Sunday near the village of Ogulveren in Van province, about 10 kilometres (six miles) from the Iranian border, where Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels set up a roadblock, CNN-Turk reported.

Security forces launched a large-scale sweep of the region after the kidnapping, it said.

The Europe-based pro-PKK Firat news agency also reported the kidnapping, but gave no details.

Officials were not immediately available for comment.

On October 21, PKK rebels ambushed a military unit in southeastern Turkey, near the Iraqi border, killing 12 troops and kidnapping eight soldiers. They were held in Iraq until November 4, when they were released and returned home. On Sunday, the eight were arrested on charges of "acting contrary to the requirements of civil service", "persistently disobeying orders" and "escaping abroad", the Anatolia news agency reported.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community, has been fighting for Kurdish self-rule in southeast Turkey since 1984 in a conflict that has claimed more than 37,000 lives.

Ankara says the PKK uses neighbouring northern Iraq as a springboard for attacks inside Turkey and threatens to conduct cross-border military strikes if Baghdad and Washington fail to curb the rebels.