PKK blasts kill civilian, hurt guards in SE Turkey

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Three people were killed and a dozen were wounded on Friday in a series of explosions in southeast Turkey blamed on separatist Kurdish guerrillas, security sources told Reuters.

The three landmine blasts, set off by remote control, took place in the southeastern provinces of Siirt and Batman and in eastern Bingol province, said security sources, who declined to be named.

Ankara is conducting a military operation, backed by attack helicopters, tanks and artillery against separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas in the restive and mountainous parts of southeast Turkey.

Amid widespread public anger over PKK attacks, the government has sent tens of thousands of troops to the border region. Over the week dozens of Turkish F-16 warplanes have also gone on bombing raids against suspected PKK positions deep inside neighboring northern Iraq.

Turkey blames the PKK for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, mostly Kurds, since the group began its armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984.

President Abdullah Gul said the military's latest air strikes against the rebels in northern Iraq were among the most significant blows yet against the separatist movement.

"I can say we are in an important period in terms of Iraq and the struggle with the PKK," Gul told reporters during a Europe Day reception in Ankara.

Turkey says several thousands of PKK rebels use a remote, mountainous part of northern Iraq as a base from which to stage attacks on targets inside Turkey. Iraqi authorities say they are keen to cooperate with NATO member Turkey but complain that they have no control over the isolated part of the oil-rich country.

The tensions over the PKK, considered a terrorist organization by the United States, Turkey and the European Union, in northern Iraq has helped boost global oil prices.