Kurdish Militants Blow Up Tracks in Front of Train in Turkey - Reports

Turkish security services are chasing militants who detonated a mine in front of a train with railway workers.

ANKARA (Sputnik) — Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants detonated a mine on the railway tracks in front of a train transporting railway workers in Van Province in southeastern Turkey, Sabah newspaper reported Friday.

The incident is the third reported PKK act of sabotage on Turkish railway lines since Thursday amid escalating violence in the country.

The train driver sustained light injuries in the explosion. It is estimated that 17 Iranian and three Turkish nationals were reported to be on the train at the time of the explosion. None of the passengers were reported to have been injured, although the train and the railroad track were damaged.

Security officers are said to be conducting an operation to track down and arrest the militants.

On Thursday, PKK members are believed to have detonated a remotely controlled mine in the path of a passenger train in Bingol Province in eastern Turkey, with no injuries reported.

Later on Thursday, Kurdish militants tried to blow up a freight train in northeastern Turkey before opening fire on railway workers and security officers, resulting in the death of one of the workers.

Last week, Ankara launched an anti-terrorism campaign against Islamic State and PKK militants, in response to terrorist attacks conducted by the two groups.

On Saturday, the PKK said that Ankara "unilaterally terminated" their two-year ceasefire by carrying out airstrikes on the group’s positions in northern Iraq.