Four soldiers killed in bomb attack in southeast Turkey  

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey: Four soldiers were killed and two wounded when a bomb hit a military vehicle travelling in the southeastern Turkish province of Mardin on Friday, security sources said.

The vehicle was on patrol between the villages of Yazdir and Taslikli in Mardin´s Savur district when a handmade explosive was detonated, the security sources said.

The two wounded soldiers were being treated in hospital, they said.

Turkey´s largely Kurdish southeast has been hit by waves of violence in clashes between government security forces and members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) after a ceasefire fell apart last year.

Thousands of militants and hundreds of civilians and soldiers have been killed since the PKK resumed its fight for Kurdish autonomy last summer, ending a 2-1/2-year ceasefire and a peace process.

The government has ruled out any return to the negotiating table and has said it will crush the PKK, which is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey and its Western allies.