PKK bombing injures 17 soldiers in southeast Turkey

By Orhan Topal

ANKARA (AA) - A PKK bomb attack on an army patrol in southeast Turkey has left 17 soldiers injured, the military said Monday.

A military vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device as it passed through the town of Esendere in the southeastern province of Hakkari, the Turkish Armed Forces said in a statement.

The injured were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Hakkari province, which borders Iran and Iraq, has been one of the southeastern provinces hardest hit by terrorism since the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU -- resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July 2015.

Since then, more than 1,200 victims, including security force personnel and civilians, have lost their lives.