Three people were killed and nine others injured in a mine blast in southeastern province of Sirnak in Turkey on Monday, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

A vehicle carrying workers stepped on the landmine, planted probably by the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), in Besta region in Uludere town of Sirnak province, leaving this tragedy, according to the report.

The injured were rushed to Sirnak State Hospital for treatment, added the report.

Turkish security forces have frequently launched operations against militants of the PKK, which Turkey lists as a terrorist organization, in eastern and southeastern parts of the country.

The PKK took up arms in 1984 in an attempt to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. So far, some 40,000 people have reportedly been killed in the past two-decade conflicts.

Source: Xinhua