Turkish soldier killed in PKK mine blast

A soldier of the Turkish security forces was killed and another was wounded as a mine staged by members of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) exploded in eastern Turkey on Thursday, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

The mine blast took place as teams of the Turkish security forces were on duty at Yalinca village of Gurpinar town of Van province, according to the report.

The injured has been taken to Van Military Hospital by helicopter for treatment, the report said.

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.

Turkey has long been fighting the PKK, which is active in eastern Turkey and northern Iraq, and frequently bomb PKK targets in the mountainous area inside Iraq's Kurdistan region.

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

Source: Xinhua