Turkish Prosecutor Wounded in Attack Blamed on Kurdish Rebels

A regional prosecutor in eastern Turkey was critically wounded on Wednesday in an attack blamed on Kurdish rebels, a security source told Agence France Presse.

Murat Uzun, chief prosecutor in the Ovacik district of the eastern Tunceli province, was wounded in an assault allegedly staged by two members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), including one woman, who fled after the attack, the source said on condition of anonymity.

Uzun was in critical condition, the source added.

Security forces are frequent targets for the PKK, but assaults on members of the judiciary are rare.

Clashes between Kurdish rebels and Turkish security forces have shot up this summer, with the separatists ramping up their attacks, triggering full-fledged military operations in the region.

On Monday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that 500 Kurdish rebels had been killed over the past month alone.

The PKK, considered a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community, took up arms in the southeast in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed about 45,000 lives.