LOC12:48
09:48 GMT
ISTANBUL, March 30 (KUNA) -- Three Turkish soldiers were killed and two
others were wounded in a mine blast southeast Turkey, near the Iraqi border,
military sources said on Tuesday.
An explosive device was set off by remote control as a foot patrol moved
through a field late on Monday in the southeastern province of Hakkari, NTV
network reported Quoting security sources as saying.
Thousands of Turkish soldiers are in the mountainous border region
conducting operations amid the spring thaw, the sources said.
Two soldiers were killed in blasts in eastern Turkey earlier this month.
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) based largely in northern Iraq, promised
in April 2009 that it would take no offensive actions, but has warned in
recent weeks it could resume attacks. The rebels have waged a 25-year armed
campaign for autonomy in the mainly Kurdish southeast in a conflict that has
claimed 40,000 lives. (end)
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KUNA 301248 Mar 10NNNN