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DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Sept 6 (AFP) - 9h39 - Two
soldiers were killed and two others injured Tuesday
in the southeastern Turkish province of Hakkari in a
landmine explosion blamed on Kurdish separatist
rebels, local officials said.
The soldiers were combing a rural area near the town
of Cukurca, on the Iraqi border, when one of them
stepped on a landmine believed to have been laid by
militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The army launched a search operation in the region,
the sources said.
Landmine attacks have become a regular occurrence in
renewed PKK violence since the group called off a
five-year unilateral ceasefire with Ankara in June
2004.
Last month, the PKK declared a one-month truce until
September 20, but the Turkish army brushed aside the
move and clashes in the region continue.
Some 37,000 people have been killed since 1984, when
the PKK, considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the
European Union and the United States, took up arms
for self-rule in the country's predominantly Kurdish
southeast.
AFP
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