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Turkish soldier killed in landmine blast

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Aug 7, 2007 (AFP) - A Turkish soldier was killed in a landmine blast blamed on Kurdish rebels in the southeast of the country, security officials said Tuesday.

Two village guards, or members of a local government-armed militia supporting the army in the fight against the rebels, were also wounded in the explosion overnight near Yuksekova town in the province of Hakkari near the border with Iran and Iraq, the officials said.

Soldiers launched a security sweep in the area following the blast, targeting members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by Ankara, the United States and the European Union, notably stepped up attacks in the east and the southeast this year.

The army has reinforced its units in the region and amassed troops on the border with Iraq, where the Kurdish militants take refuge.

The PKK took up arms for self-rule in the Kurdish-majority region in 1984. The conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives.