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Turkish soldier killed in mine blast blamed on Kurdish rebels

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Dec 9, 2006 (AFP) - A Turkish soldier was killed and 11 others were injured in a landmine explosion in southeast Turkey blamed on the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), local security sources said Saturday.

The landmine was set off by remote control late Friday as a group of soldiers were on patrol on rural ground near the town of Lice, in Diyarbakir province, during an ongoing security operation, the sources said

The PKK called a unilateral ceasefire on October 1, saying it hoped to pave the way for a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish conflict.

The truce, like previous ones called by the rebels, was rejected by Turkey, but fighting has decreased markedly since then.

More than 37,000 people have died since the PKK, considered a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community, took up arms for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast in 1984.