UPDATE - Terrorist attack injures 3 village guards in SE Turkey

UPDATES WITH KILLING OF FOUR TERRORISTS IN HAKKARI

By Mehmet Demirhan and Merve Yildizalp

SIRNAK/ANKARA, Turkey (AA) - Three village guards were injured in southeastern Turkey on Monday after explosion of an improvised explosive device (IED) laid by the PKK terror group.

According to local authorities, the IED was triggered as the guards made their way through Sirnak province to a nearby base where they served.

The injured village guards were sent to the Sirnak State Hospital by helicopter.

An operation was launched in the region to capture the terrorists.

Meanwhile, an Interior Ministry statement said four terrorists were killed in a counter-terrorism operation in Yuksekova, southeastern Hakkari province.

The operations against the terror group have been ongoing, the statement added.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women and children.

* Writing by Dilara Hamit and Sibel Morrow from Ankara