Villagers search for the bodies of Turkish soldiers inside a destroyed armoured vehicle near Daglica District, southeastern Turkey, after an attack yesterday, in Hakkari

AFP/Ankara

At least 10 Turkish policemen were killed Tuesday in a bomb attack in eastern Turkey blamed on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), security sources said.

The attack targeted a minibus carrying police working in the Igdir region of eastern Turkey at the Dilucu border gate marking the border with Azerbaijan, security sources told AFP. Three others were wounded. 

Turkey's security forces launched an operation against Kurdish militants after the attack, according to the state-run Anatolia news agency. 

This is the second deadliest attack of the current flare-up in unrest after 16 Turkish soldiers were killed at the weekend in the Kurdish-dominated southeast.

In response to that attack, Turkish warplanes launched a massive air operation early Tuesday against PKK targets, killing as many as 40 rebels.

The Turkish government vowed to eradicate PKK rebels after the attack.

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