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Kurdish rebel, Turkish soldier die in separate attacks

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Aug 7, 2006 (AFP) - Militant Kurdish separatists killed a Turkish army officer in an attack on his home early Monday about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Turkey's southern border with Iraq, local officials said.

The attack by rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) also injured the officer's son, the authorities said.

In a separate incident in the same area, a Kurdish rebel was killed late Sunday as the bomb he was planting exploded by mistake, according to an official statement. The man was placing the bomb on a road used by Turkish troops.

The Kurdish conflict in Turkey has claimed more than 37,000 lives since 1984 when the PKK took up arms for Kurdish self-rule in the southeast.