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ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Kurdish rebels staged two attacks against security forces in southeastern Turkey on Monday, killing 10 security force members and wounding eight others, the country's state-run news agency reported.
Anadolu Agency said militants belonging to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, launched an attack in the afternoon against soldiers providing security along the construction of the Sirnak-Van highway in Sirnak province near the border with Iraq.
Six soldiers were killed and two wounded in the assault. Anadolu said an operation has been launched to apprehend rebels in the area, with officials saying one of the militants responsible has been killed.
Earlier Monday, Anadolu reported Kurdish rebels had detonated a roadside bomb in Mardin province, near the border with Syria.
The blast targeted soldiers and village guards traveling on a highway, killing four soldiers and wounding six.
Fighting between the PKK and Turkey's security forces resumed last year after a fragile peace process collapsed. Since then, more than 600 Turkish security personnel and thousands of PKK militants have been killed, according to Anadolu. Human rights groups say hundreds of civilians have also died in the violence.
Tens of thousands of people have died overall since the PKK — considered a terror organization by Turkey and its allies — took up arms in 1984.
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