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ANKARA, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Two Turkish soldiers were killed and two others wounded in a landmine explosion in eastern Turkey on Sunday, private Bugun News reported.
The landmine planted by the members of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) exploded against a military vehicle passing on the Tunceli-Erzincan highway on the third day of Tunceli operations in fight against the PKK in the region, according to the report.
Military land and air units were deployed three days ago by order of the governor of the eastern province of Tunceli, with the objective of clearing PKK rebels from the region around the Tunceli-Erzincan highway, said the report.
The PKK negotiated a ceasefire with Ankara in 2013, but the truce fell apart in the wake of a suicide bomb attack on July 20 which killed 33 pro-Kurdish and left wing activists in the country's border town of Suruc in the southeastern province of Sanliurfa.
The bombing is suspected to be the work of Islamic State (IS) sympathizers, though the organization has not claimed responsibility.
Over 2,000 PKK militants have been killed since July in over 4,300 operations of Turkish security forces, the Turkish Interior Minister Selami Altinok said earlier last week.
The PKK is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.
