Three Turkish soldiers killed in roadside attack

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Aug 4 (Reuters) Three Turkish soldiers were killed today when their vehicle was blown up by a remote controlled explosive device laid by Kurdish rebels on a rural road, security forces said.

The deaths follow some of the heaviest fighting since the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) started its spring offensive this year, with 11 killed in clashes earlier in the week.

More than 200 soldiers and separatist guerrillas have died in the violence so far this year, according to a study carried out by a human rights group.

The escalation has prompted calls from the army for a cross-border incursion into northern Iraq to deal with rebels based there.

Ankara blames the separatist organisation for the deaths of more than 30,000 since they took up arms in 1984 to fight for a Kurdish homeland.

The European Union as well as the United States and Turkey consider the PKK a terrorist organisation.

REUTERS KK VC2306