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DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, June 23 (Reuters) - Two
Turkish soldiers were killed and six wounded when
their vehicle struck a landmine in the country's
southeast, security officials said on Thursday.
At least seven soldiers or state officials have been
killed in landmine explosions this month in renewed
violence between Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
separatists and Turkish security forces in the
predominately Kurdish southeast.
The latest blast happened late on Wednesday in Agri
province near the Iranian border, an official said.
Another official said the military separately
launched a large-scale operation in nearby Siirt and
Sirnak provinces, where PKK guerrillas have launched
several attacks in recent weeks. He declined to give
further details.
The PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in
1984 in a bid to carve out an ethnic homeland, and
more than 30,000 people, mostly Kurds, have died in
the ensuing conflict.
Fighting dropped off sharply with the 1999 capture
of PKK commander Abdullah Ocalan. But the end of the
PKK's unilateral ceasefire last year has threatened
to rekindle violence.
Reuters
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