Land mine blast near minibus kills 4 in southeast Turkey; Kurdish rebels blamed
ISTANBUL, Turkey -- A land mine explosion blamed on Kurdish rebels in southeast Turkey killed four people and injured four others Friday, officials said.
The mine exploded near a minibus packed with villagers in the town of Sason in Batman province, a statement from the regional governor's office said. It said three people were killed outright and five were injured.
One of the injured later died in a hospital in neighboring Diyarbakir province, hospital officials said.
Rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, also known as PKK, have fought for self-rule in Turkey's southeast since 1984, and tens of thousands of people have been killed in the fighting.
Land mine explosions are common in the region; rebels plant explosives near roads to attack military targets.
The government statement did not say if Friday's victims were civilians or government-paid village guards fighting Kurdish rebels.
Village guards in the region are armed residents who use their local knowledge to help the Turkish military in anti-rebel operations.
Two other blasts caused by land mines believed to have been planted by Kurdish rebels wounded four soldiers and a village guard in nearby Siirt and Bingol provinces, state-run news agency Anatolia said.
In Bingol, three soldiers were wounded when a land mine exploded near their military vehicle, Anatolia said. Another soldier and a village guard were wounded during a controlled detonation of a roadside bomb, it said.
Turkey has launched several aerial attacks and one major ground operation against rebel bases across the border with Iraq this year.
Turkey, the EU and U.S. consider the PKK to be a terrorist organization, and Washington has been sharing intelligence about the group with Turkey.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
