JINHA

MUŞ - At least four people died in clashes in the Kurdish town of Varto. A delegation investigating the town reported that officials are refusing to give information on the violence.

Clashes started in thedistrict of Varto, in Muş province in Northern Kurdistan (Turkey) when residents declared self-government over the weekend. Eyewitnesses report that police have been executing people in the town. Four people have apparently been executed by state security forces so far.

As clashes between state forces and self-defense fighters continued yesterday morning, a large explosion occurred in the forested area of Çemêsus. Gunshots ceased in the wake of the explosion.Witnesses report that Turkish special operations officers removed the two (or according to some, three) bodies from the scene.

Later that day, a car was found riddled with bullets and with bloodstains inside. Evidently, someone had opened fire on the car at close range. An eyewitness said that one of the individuals in the car escaped, while another was captured and taken away by police.

Elsewhere in the town, near a bridge at the entrance to the town, police apparently executed two individuals and carried away the bodies. A special operations teamcarried away the bodies."There's no sign whatsoever of a clash at the site where it happened," said Sırrı Sever, a member of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) PM who headed to the scene. "There are bloodstains on the ground. It seems clear that they were executed. But we still don't know who they were."

Democratic Society Congress (DTK) Selma Irmak led a delegation of political representatives to the town to seek information on what has happened. "According to the eyewitnesses we met with, there have been serious clashes and the governor has ordered a curfew," said Selma. However, she said that the district governor refused to answer questions, the prosecutor had left the district, and no government representatives would speak to them.

(at-ng/fk/gc/cm)