Kurdish militants kill two Turkish soldiers, wound six in bomb attack- sources

Two Turkish soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb attack on their vehicle by Kurdish militants in southeastern Bitlis province, security sources said on Monday as security forces also battled militants elsewhere in the region.

 

The sources said the bomb had wounded six other soldiers in the military vehicle, driving on a forested road near an area of clashes with Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters. 

 

The PKK, deemed a terrorist organization by the United States and the EU, has been fighting an insurgency since 1984, demanding greater Kurdish autonomy in the southeast of the country. About 40,000 people have been killed in the fighting. 

 

The conflict has surged again since a two-year ceasefire collapsed in July. Turkish security forces have been carrying out operations in urban areas of the southeast for the past week, killing at least 110 militants, according to security sources.