Two Turkish soldiers killed in PKK bomb attack

Two Turkish soldiers were killed when a makeshift explosive planted by militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) on a highway went off in the southeastern town of Lice, according to local police on Friday.

The explosive was detonated on the Lice-Kulp highway in Diyarbakir province, killing two non-commissioned gendarmerie officers who were patrolling the area, the police said.

An operation has been launched to catch the culprits, they said.

Turkey’s southeast has been in a state of unrest since a two-year ceasefire between the Turkish state and the PKK ended in July.

Since then, over 150 Turkish police and security officials have been killed in clashes with Kurdish fighters, while the military claimed to have killed well over 1,000 PKK fighters, mostly in northern Iraq, but also in Turkey - though the PKK disputes these figures.

Last Thursday, the PKK abandoned a month-old ceasefire, a day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to "liquidate" them.

The PKK said the ruling Justice and Development Party - which won back its parliamentary majority on November 1 - was itching for a fight with the Kurdish militant group.

"The unilateral halt to hostilities has come to an end with the AKP's war policy and the latest attacks," it said in a statement carried by the pro-PKK Firat news agency.