Three killed in east Turkey mine blast, clash

TUNCELI, Turkey, May 28 (Reuters) One man was killed and another badly injured in a mine blast in Turkey's troubled eastern region, security officials said today.

The officials blamed the blast, which occurred in Tunceli province yesterday evening, on guerrillas of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is fighting for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey.

In a separate incident yesterday, two members of the illegal far left group TKP-TIKKO were killed in an operation by the Turkish army in Tunceli. A military official said the members of the group had been holding civilians for ransom.

Two soldiers were also injured in a mine explosion in Nazimiye district of Tunceli on Saturday.

The latest spate of incidents coincides with mounting speculation in Turkey, which faces elections in July, about a possible military incursion into northern Iraq to crush an estimated 4,000 PKK rebels hiding there.

Last week, six people were killed in a bomb blast in the capital Ankara which Turkish authorities blamed on the PKK. The group denied involvement. Also last week, six Turkish troops died in a mine explosion, the deadliest single attack on Turkish security forces in the last year.

The PKK has been battling Turkish security forces since 1984 in a conflict that has claimed more than 30,000 lives. Turkey, the United States and the European Union all classify the PKK as a terrorist organisation.

Reuters GL RN1526