Four workers killed in landmine blast in Southeast

A landmine blast killed four people and wounded nine Monday in southeastern Turkey near the border with Iraq where Kurdish separatists are active, the Anatolia news agency reported, quoting the local governor's office.

 The blast occurred in the Besta region in Şırnak province when a vehicle carrying workers to a road construction site ran over a landmine planted by separatists from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, the governor's statement said.

None of the wounded were in a life-threatening condition, it added.

The army immediately launched a security operation in the area.

Last month, the PKK announced that it was extending a ceasefire in its separatist campaign until July 15 in response to progress toward a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

It warned, however, that it would defend itself if it came under attack from the Turkish military.

The separatists have been fighting an insurgency-style battle in southeastern Turkey since 1984 in a conflict that has claimed some 45,000 lives according to the Turkish army.

The group is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.

The army has reiterated that it will not stop its endeavors until it completely wiopes out the PKK. Turkish jets also regularly bomb PKK bases and hideouts in northern Iraq.