Massive hunt for kidnapped soldier in Tunceli

Turkish armed forces have descended into the region in and around Tunceli in a massive hunt for soldier Coskun Kirandi, captured during a PKK road block on the Tunceli-Pulumur highway two days ago.The capture of Private Kirandi occured Sunday, when a 15 person group of PKK members set up an armed roadblock on the Tunceli highway. Stopping around 60 cars on the road, the PKK group had the passengers get out of their cars to hand over any valuables or money they were carrying on them. While checking the identification of the people they had stopped, the PKK came upon Private Kirandi, who was in civilian clothing and on his way to his home city of Trabzon for an authorized break from soldier duties. Though Private Kirandi showed the group his civilian ID, the PKK members were able to determine from the chain around his neck that he was a soldier, and so they separated him from the rest of the passengers. When the PKK left the scene, they took Private Kirandi with them. The other passengers were themselves stranded until help came, as the PKK had removed the batteries from their cars.First road block since 1988This event marks the first time since 1988 that there has been a PKK roadblock in Turkey. There is technically a Turkish armed forces ban on soldiers using bus transportation in the area for fear of kidnapping by PKK militants. The operation to find Private Kirandi involves specially trained commandos and helicopters, and is contuing on through morning and night in the Tunceli area. Â