Saturday, 22 April, 2006 , 09:27 AFP — Two homemade bombs exploded in the mainly Kurdish city of Batman in southeastern Turkey overnight, causing material damage but no casualties, local security sources said Saturday.

Friday, 21 April, 2006 , 12:47 AFP — A bomb exploded in a garbage container in the western Turkish city of Izmir on Friday just seconds before the arrival of a military bus, but there were no casualties, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Friday, 21 April, 2006 , 11:38 AFP — The Turkish army has deployed thousands of troops to the country's southeastern corner, preparing to intensify operations against separatist Kurdish rebels who have stepped up violence in the region, the press quoted officials as saying Friday.

Thursday, 20 April, 2006 , 14:10 AFP — A Turkish prosecutor who called for a top general to be investigated for alleged illegal actions in the fight against Kurdish rebels was sacked Thursday for misconduct, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Thursday, 20 April, 2006 , 13:54 AFP — Turkish prosecutors say they cannot retry Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, serving a life sentence since 1999, under current law regardless of a European court finding that he was unjustly condemned, the Anatolia news agency reported Wednesday.

Thursday, 20 April, 2006 , 11:42 AFP — Iraqi leaders on Thursday decided to cancel a much-awaited parliament session for the second time in a week, Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman told AFP.

Thursday, 20 April, 2006 , 05:52 AFP — Iraq's parliament was to meet Thursday for only the second time since it was elected in December as a top Sunni politician warned that the minority blocs in the assembly could join hands to form the next government.

Wednesday, 19 April, 2006 , 14:45 AFP — Iranian police have killed two members of a banned Kurdish rebel group operating close to the border with Turkey, state television reported Wednesday.

Wednesday, 19 April, 2006 , 09:11 AFP — The Turkish government submitted a bill to parliament late Tuesday toughening and extending the scope of an existing anti-terror law as a bloody Kurdish rebellion intensified in the country's southeast, parliamentary sources said Wednesday.

Tuesday, 18 April, 2006 , 18:02 AFP — Three Kurdish rebels and a soldier were killed in clashes in southeast Turkey, officials said Tuesday, in the latest episode of mounting violence in the mainly Kurdish region.