Kurdish Refugees Take U.N. Hostages
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BAGHDAD — Turkish Kurd refugees in two camps in northern Iraq have taken several U.N. workers hostage as a shield against possible attacks by an Iraqi Kurdish faction, a United Nations official and other sources said Wednesday.
Kurdistan Democratic Party, or KDP, fighters have encircled the camps in Atrush as part of their hunt for rival guerrillas of Turkey’s Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, officials said.
Viktor Wahlroos, Iraq’s acting U.N. coordinator in Baghdad, said at least two U.N. guards and one staff member from the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees were held in the camps.
KDP guerrillas attacked PKK bases near the camps Tuesday, killing 13 PKK militants, Turkey’s Anatolian news agency said.
Most of the refugees have fled fighting between the PKK and security forces in southeast Turkey. They say they were mistreated by Turkish troops.
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