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) ta.asa KUNA 301248 Mar 10NNNN