District commander, soldier die in land mine blast in Turkey's southeast
Daily News with wires
AA photo
A military officer and a soldier were killed in a land mine blast in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, daily Hürriyet reported today.A squadron of soldiers were conducting an operation to rescue a British tourist kidnapped by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on Saturday, when a soldier stepped on a land mine.
Two soldiers, including the gendarmerie commander of Diyarbakır's Lice district were killed in the blast. The bodies of the killed soldiers were taken to Diyarbakır Military Hospital.
The British tourist was released by the PKK yesterday night, local officials said, as reports of the blast came in.
A military convoy in the southeastern Hakkari province, meanwhile, came under attack at around 7 a.m. today. One soldier was slightly injured after a land mine was remotely detonated by alleged PKK militants, while the convoy was traveling on the road between Hakkari's Yüksekova and Yeniköprü districts.
The road was later closed to traffic and an operation was launched to apprehend the perpetrators.
The PKK is recognized as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.