ANKARA, Sept. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Two soldiers of Turkish security forces were killed and six others wounded when a landmine, planted by the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), exploded in southeastern Turkey, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported on Thursday.

   The blast occurred when a military vehicle carrying soldiers on duty hit the landmine at Derecik area of Semdinli town in Hakkari province, said the report.

   It added that the injured were rushed to Hakkari Military Hospital for medical treatment and a wide-scale operation had been launched in the region.

   The PKK has launched a series of landmine and remote-controlled bomb attacks in Turkey over the past few months.

   The group took up arms for Kurdish independence in southeastern Turkey in 1984 and its conflicts with government forces have claimed some 37,000 lives since then.

   Last month, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a speech in Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey, calling on the PKK to lay down arms. In response, the PKK announced a one-month ceasefire from Aug. 20 to Sept. 20. Enditem