Kurdish rebels are increasingly targeting state employees in their fight for autonomy in the Kurdish-dominated southeast. On Wednesday, authorities said the rebels, abducted four of the teachers in Elazig province and one in neighboring Diyarbakir province late Tuesday. The village guard was abducted in Tunceli province.

The guerrillas shot and killed the engineer in Hakkari province. The attacks follow the killing of a pregnant woman and her 6-year-old child by the rebels during an attack on police in the city of Batman on Monday. CNN-Turk television says the woman's baby, which was delivered after the attack, died Wednesday.