Attack in southeast Turkey kills 4 soldiers, wounds 4 others

Flag of Turkey (Photo By David Benbennick (original author) – Turkish Flag Law (Türk Bayrağı Kanunu), Law nr. 2893 of 22 September 1983. Text (in Turkish) at the website of the Turkish Historical Society (Türk Tarih Kurumu), Public Domain)

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish officials say four soldiers were killed and four others were wounded in a bomb attack by Kurdish rebels in southeast Turkey.

The governor’s office for Hakkari province said Wednesday that the improvised explosive device was planted on a road near the town of Yuksekova, close to the border with Iran, and went off as a military vehicle was passing by.

The wounded soldiers were transported to a hospital in Yusekova. There was no immediate information on their conditions.

Hurriyet newspaper said the military launched an operation, backed by air power, to catch the militants.

The rebels of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, have waged a three-decade long insurgency in southeast Turkey. Violence flared again in 2015 after the collapse of a two-year peace process.