11 soldiers, 1 civilian injured in mine blast in SE Turkey

Eleven soldiers of the Turkish security forces and one civilian were wounded in a road mine blast in southeastern Turkey on Monday, local Dogan news agency reported.

Earlier, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported that eight Turkish soldiers were wounded in the mine blast.

The handmade mine, allegedly planted by members of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), was remotely detonated as a civilian van transporting soldiers to a nearby military garrison was passing by near Uzumlu village of Cukurca town of Hakkari province, said Dogan.

The injured were transported by helicopter to the Fatih Barracks in Hakkari, and later taken to a military hospital by ambulances, said the report, adding that military operations had been launched to find the perpetrators.

The Turkish armed forces said the PKK might intensify attacks over the summer when more PKK guerrillas arrive in Turkey from the mountainous areas in northern Iraq during warmer weather.

Listed as a terrorist organization by the Turkish government, the United States and the European Union, the PKK took up arms in 1984 to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey.

Some 40,000 people have been killed in conflicts involving the PKK for the past two decades.

Source: Xinhua