Kurdish rebels claim pipeline blast: report

ANKARA (AFP) – Separatist Kurdish rebels claimed responsibility Friday for a blast that cut a strategic oil pipeline in Turkey and sent international prices higher.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline at Refahiye in eastern Turkey has been on fire since the blast on Tuesday night and is expected to be closed for 15 days.


The separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) said the explosion was “an act of sabotage” by its militants and more details would be revealed later, according to a report on the website of the Firat news agency which is close to the rebels.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community, has sabotaged gas and oil pipelines in the past as part of its armed campaign for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast.

AFP