Nine soldiers killed in blast in southeastern Turkey, army chief says

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, he said in a televised press conference. Â

"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," Basbug said, adding a probe was launched into the incident.

"Most probably, it was remote-controlled or detonated by cable," he said.

News agencies and broadcasters said the attack in Lice district of the southeastern province of Diyarbakir occurred around 6 a.m. (GMT 0300). Dogan News Agency said some soldiers were injured in the attack but did not give any figures. Local media said the cause of the blast was a mine.

CNNTurk said earlier two similar attacks in the same region were foiled after explosives were discovered on the highway. More than a month ago, security forces discovered 65 kilograms of explosives, and 20 days ago 100 kilograms of explosive devices were found, according to CNNTurk.

Basbug did not blame the terror organization Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, by name, but said the attack had made the military more determined than ever to fight terrorism.

POLITICIANS EXPRESS SADNESS
Both Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan expressed their sadness over the incident.

Erdogan told in a meeting with his party members that Turkey will tirelessly continue its struggle against terror until the end.

Wednesday's 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.

According to experts, this attack is likely to harm efforts to have the terror organization PKK to lay down arms. "This is a very dangerous provocation if it was carried out by hawks within the PKK as efforts are under way to have the PKK lay down its arms," Cumhuriyet daily's columnist Mehmet Farac told CNNTurk.

The leader of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP, Ahmet Turk, said in a written statement that his party was in deep sorrow over the deadly blast and added they never support violence that targets people's lives.