One policeman wounded in blast in SE Turkey

A policeman was wounded in a blast near the government office in Semdinli town of Hakkari province in southeastern Turkey, local newspaper Hurriyet Daily News reported Friday. The blast occurred Thursday evening and an investigation is underway to identify those responsible for the attack as well as the type of explosives used, according to the report. Another attack also took place in Semdinli Thursday night when mines were remotely detonated by suspected members of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) as an army convoy passed them. A fight followed, but no casualties were reported. Meanwhile, a police checkpoint in the province of Hakkari came under attack by PKK militants late Thursday. The PKK militants opened fire with assault rifles from three separate locations, sparking a clash with the Turkish security forces and no injuries were reported, and special police forces were dispatched to apprehend the assailants. Multiple PKK activities in Semdinli took place in several different locations Thursday with militants stopping vehicles to conduct ID checks on roads connecting the villages of Baglar and Ruzgarli. The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, took up arms in 1984 in an attempt to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. Since then, over 40,000 people have been killed in conflicts involving the group.