Two Servicemen Killed by PKK Explosive in Southeastern Turkey

Two Turkish servicemen, including a major, were killed as militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK, outlawed in Turkey) detonated a bomb on the highway between the Lice and Kulp districts, according to local media.

ISTANBUL (Sputnik) — Two Turkish servicemen, including a major, were killed as militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK, outlawed in Turkey) detonated a bomb in the Lice district of the southeastern Diyarbakir province in Turkey, local media reported Tuesday.

According to the Daily Sabah newspaper, the attack was perpetrated on the highway between the Lice and Kulp districts. Another sergeant was reportedly wounded in the attack.

On July 17, a total of 17 Turkish servicemen were injured in an explosion from an improvised explosive device, which was planted on the road in the southeastern Hakkari province by PKK militants.

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, and was soon followed by terrorist acts allegedly committed by PKK militants and regular anti-PKK operations by the Turkish government.