ANKARA (Sputnik) — One Turkish soldier was killed and nine were injured in an improvised explosive device blast carried out by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) members in the southeastern Mardin province on Thursday, according to a statement by the Turkish General Staff.
"During a counterterrorist operation on May 19 at 1:45 p.m. [10:45 GMT] in the town of Nusaybin, Mardin province one of the servicemen was killed and nine were wounded, including two severely injured, in an explosion caused by the improvised explosive device set by the members of the separatist terrorist organization [PKK]," the statement read.
Tensions between Ankara and the Kurds escalated in July 2015, when the Turkish government launched a military campaign against the PKK, an organization outlawed in Turkey that promotes Kurdish independence.
