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At Least 17 Soldiers Injured in PKK Bomb Blast in Southeastern Turkey

© AP Photo / Vadim GhirdaTurkish troops
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At least 17 Turkish troops were injured in an explosion in the southeast of the country, the Turkish General Staff said Monday in a statement.

ANKARA (Sputnik) — An improvised explosive device, planted on the road by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), outlawed in Turkey, went off in the southeastern Hakkari province of the country, injuring 17 servicemen, according to the statement.

"Seventeen of our comrades were injured, with four of them severely wounded in the explosion of a homemade bomb, planted by a separatist terrorist organization (PKK), which blew up in the path of a military convoy on the road near the Esendere village of the Yuksekova district in the Hakkari province. The injured are hospitalized, the operation aimed at neutralizing those involved in the attack is being carried out at the scene," the statement, obtained by Sputnik, said.

Security forces loyal to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan guard the General Staff headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, July 17, 2016. - Sputnik International
Turkish Forces Detain 44 PKK Militants, Including Istanbul Terror Act Organizer
Kurds are an ethnic minority in Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria and are striving for the establishment of an independent Kurdish state.

The conflict between Turkey and Kurdish militant groups seeking independence escalated in July 2015, leading to frequent acts of terror by the PKK and regular anti-PKK operations by the Turkish government. Since the beginning of the escalation, over 900 servicemen and policemen, as well as more than 300 civilians. have been killed in PKK attacks. According to the Turkish Defense Ministry, the security forces managed to neutralize over 10,000 PKK militants since July 2015.

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