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Two Turkish soldiers killed in blast blamed on Kurdish rebels

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, July 18, 2007 (AFP) - Two Turkish soldiers were killed and six others injured when their vehicle hit a landmine planted by separatist Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey, local officials said.

The incident occurred on a road near the town of Cukurca, at the border with Iraq, as the soldiers were returning from a patrol mission.

Landmines have become a hallmark of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which notably stepped up attacks this year.

The army has launched a large-scale crackdown against the PKK in the southeast and amassed troops on the border with northern Iraq, where the rebels take refuge.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by Ankara and much of the international community, took up arms for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast in 1984. The conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives.