JINHA

ŞIRNEX - Police and soldiers killed five, two of them children, in violent clashes in the town of Cizre in Northern Kurdistan (in Turkey) yesterday.

After an attack on a military base yesterday, clashes broke out between youth and police. Five people were killed, two of them children. Police posted snipers on the roofs of buildings. Snipers shot at any citizens who went outside.

"The governor has not declared a curfew, but the situation in the town is virtually a state of emergency," said Leyla İmret, the co-mayor of the town.

Seven-year-old Baran Çağlı was killed when he was trapped beneath a wall that collapsed during the intense clashes. 28-year-old Mesut Sanrı was heavily wounded and taken to the hospital. However, police shut down the hospital and refused to allow Mesut to be treated. He lost his life waiting for treatment. Meanwhile, police opened fire on the vehicle of 27-year-old Eyüp Ergen, killing him. Among the many wounded was a woman who police shot in the feet.

As tensions escalated, youth and members of the Islamic Hür Dava party fired on each other. One Hür Dava member was wounded. The party members then attacked the municipal culture center. Police responding to the incident arrested the culture center employees.

(ma/fk/gc/cm)