ANKARA, April 29 (Xinhua) -- One Turkish soldier was killed in an armed attack in Hakkari province of southeastern Turkey on Wednesday, broadcaster CNNturk reported.

    This report came after nine soldiers of the Turkish security forces in a U.S.-made armored personnel carrier were killed in a roadside blast in southeastern Diyarbakir province earlier Wednesday.

    A tank and an M-113 armored personnel carrier were on a mission to secure the region before the passage of a military convoy when the explosion occurred, Chief of the Turkish Armed Forces Gen. Ilker Basbug said in a televised press conference on Wednesday.

    "The personnel carrier has around 4-4.5 centimeters of armor underneath. These explosives must have been strong to cause such damage. According to our initial assessment, it is likely to be a homemade explosive," he said.

    Basbug did not blame the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), but said the attack had made the military more determined than ever to fight against terrorism.

    The attack was the deadliest assault by terrorists this year. The PKK stages hit-and-run attacks on Turkish targets, often operating from hideouts in northern Iraq.

    The PKK took up arms in 1984 to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. Some 40,000 people have been killed in the over-two-decade conflict.

    The Turkish forces take tougher actions against the PKK after the country's legislature extended the government's mandate to launch cross-border operations against the rebels in northern Iraq.

    Turkish warplanes have been striking PKK targets in northern Iraq in the past few months.