Four Turkish troops killed in attack blamed on Kurd rebels

IED planted on road near Iranian border goes off as military vehicle passes by, in explosion that also wounds 4

Turkish officials said four soldiers were killed and four were wounded Wednesday in a bomb attack by Kurdish rebels in southeast Turkey.

The governor’s office for the Hakkari province said 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.

It blamed a “separatist terrorist organization” — its official term for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

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

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

PKK rebels have waged a three-decade long insurgency in southeast Turkey. Violence flared again in 2015 after the collapse of a two-year peace process.