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Powerful bomb defused in Turkey after deadly blast

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Sept 16, 2006 (AFP) - Security forces on Saturday defused a powerful bomb on a busy highway in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, similar to the one used in a deadly blast in the restive region's main city, officials said.

The remote-control bomb was found near Nusaybin, Mardin province, on a major highway along Turkey's border with Syria used by both civilians and army troops, the local governor's office said.

It said the bomb, made up of about 10 kilograms (about 22 pounds) of plastic explosives and ammonium nitrate, was similar to the device used in the powerful blast which rocked the region's biggest city Diyarbakir on Tuesday.

Ten people, including seven children, were killed and 14 injured in the blast at a crowded park in Diyarbakir, which officials say was the work of the the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday blamed a radical faction of the PKK for the bombing which came a day after the country's main Kurdish party urged the rebels to declare a ceasefire.

More than 37,000 people have been killed since 1984 when the PKK, blacklisted as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, picked up arms for self-rule in southeastern Turkey.

Violence has been on the rise since June 2004 when the rebels called off a five-year unilateral ceasefire.

Kurdish militants have also claimed 16 bombings across Turkey, including attacks in tourist resorts in the west, which killed a total of 12 people and injured about 200.