Turkish train hit by mine blast - security sources

A cargo train has been hit by a mine blast on a track in southeast Turkey , as a result of which three railway workers are injured, say the security sources.

A cargo train was hit by a mine blast on a track in southeast Turkey on Saturday, and three railway workers were injured, security sources said.

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The train was crossing a bridge when the mine exploded and two wagons fell into a stream below, the sources said.

State news agency Anatolian quoted the governor of Mus province, Erdogan Bektas, as blaming outlawed Kurdish separatist guerrillas for the attack.

Violence in the mainly Kurdish southeast has escalated in recent months and fighting between the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and security forces continued on Saturday.

In the eastern province of Bingol, one PKK rebel was killed and two Turkish troops were injured in a clash, the General Staff said on its website.

In February Turkey's armed forces launched a cross-border land incursion into northern Iraq aimed at PKK members based there and since then has carried out a series of air strikes on targets over the border.

Ankara, which like the European Union and United States considers the PKK a terrorist organisation, blames the group for some 40,000 deaths since the start of its separatist campaign in 1984.