Two soldiers killed in blast in Turkey's southeast -sources

A Turkish military vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device in southeast Sirnak province, killing two soldiers, security sources and private Dogan news agency said on Tuesday.   

 

No one claimed responsibility for the blast in Uludere town near the Iraqi border. Turkey's southeast has been hit by a surge in violence since a ceasefire with militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) ended last year.   

 

The PKK claimed responsibility for a suicide car bomb attack targeting a police station in the eastern Turkish city of Elazig last Thursday that killed three officers.  

 

The attack was the largest in a series of bombings which killed a total of 10 people, mostly police and soldiers, and wounded 300 more within less than 24 hours.      

 

It was an escalation of violence in southeastern Turkey that officials blamed on PKK militants, who Turkey, the United States and European Union label as a terrorist organization.   

 

Since the collapse of the ceasefire, the PKK has carried out dozens of attacks on police and military posts in the largely Kurdish region in its fight for greater autonomy for Turkey's 15 million Kurds.