Video footage found on a terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) member has proven allegations that a 2008 terrorist attack in the southeastern province of Hakkari indicates there is more to the allegations that the attack had come as result of massive negligence on the party of the military and blatant overlooking of vital intelligence that had come weeks before the deadly assault.

On Oct. 3, 2008, 17 soldiers were killed in the Aktütün outpost, in Hakkari's Şemdinli district. Eleven days after the attack, the Taraf daily ran a story that was as shocking for Turkey as the attack itself. The newspaper claimed that intelligence reports had been sent to all relevant military units about the plans on the attack a month ago. It also published documents showing that intelligence warnings had been sent five days and one day before the attack. The newspaper also reported that Heron unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) had started taking images of the area three hours before the attack occurred.More evidence has emerged that the Aktütün attack, which claimed the lives of 17 soldiers in October 2008, was a result of gross negligence on the part of the military and that officers had blatantly overlooked vital intelligence that had come in the weeks before the deadly assault The newspaper published aerial infrared images of the Aktütün area that clearly showed figures approaching the area through the northern Iraqi border. Images from Oct. 3, 2008 taken by a Heron showed a group of terrorists that eventually attacked the outpost laying mines at around 9:35 a.m. local time, about three-and-a-half hours before the attack. The group gets larger in the following images as more and more terrorists take their positions on hilltops in preparation for the attack. The UAV camera then switches to the Aktütün military outpost, where the attack occurred. The terrorist raid, which killed 17 young soldiers, was literally broadcast live on General Staff monitors, according to Taraf, which said these pictures were concrete evidence that the security forces had been informed about every move made by the PKK terrorists. The Taraf daily published aerial infrared images of the Aktütün region that clearly showed figures approaching the area from the northern Iraqi border. Video images recently seized on a PKK member also serve as proof of Taraf's allegations. The terrorists filmed the Aktütün attack like a documentary from the very beginning. The images show that the attack that started at noon lasted until the darkness of the night, but no help -- from the air or ground -- was extended to the soldiers at the outpost, the video shows clearly.The video is outrageous, as it shows PKK terrorists walking in single file, and very comfortably. In one sequence, the terrorists stop to have some tea. A guide, who apparently knew the area well based on his conversations in the footage, led the terrorists to their target. The video also shows terrorists carrying Dochka anti-aircraft missiles on mules that they brought with them.The images of the attack also clearly reveal that the outpost is positioned in the wrong location and has no view of the area. Experts claim many other outposts are in a similar location. In fact, the outpost, attacked four times between 1992 and 2008, is an open target as it is located between three higher hills. 27 August 2010, FridayTODAY'S ZAMAN  İSTANBUL