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ANKARA, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- Three police officers were killed and another wounded in a roadside bomb attack in Turkey's southeastern province of Mardin late Tuesday night, according to local Anadolu Agency.
The improvised explosive device, which was planted by outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants, went off when an armored police vehicle was passing by.
Earlier on Tuesday two other PKK attacks in southeastern and eastern Turkey killed five policemen and injured 15.
Tensions have soared in Turkey during the past week as the government launched a major military operation against PKK militants, and the latter has kept hitting back.
Last Tuesday night, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Ankara and other cities against PKK attacks in the east, as the public fury was turned against the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP).
The HDP said some 128 properties of theirs across the country were attacked during the protests, including arson against its headquarters in the capital Ankara.
Devlet Bahceli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party, the third biggest party in Turkey, has voiced growing concerns over the prospect of an ethnic conflict that could stem from ongoing polarization in society. Amid a spiral of violence between the security forces and the PKK, he has called on all to act with common sense and not to fall into the trap.
