Turkish soldier loses leg in bomb blast

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) -- A Turkish soldier lost a leg on Tuesday in a bomb blast in the southeast of the country, local officials said.

The sergeant-major was heavily injured by the blast that went off as he was getting into his car outside a gendarmerie building in the southeastern province of Sanliurfa, a security official told Reuters.

The soldier was being treated in hospital.

Few details were available about the explosive device. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

"We are looking into possible sources of the bomb explosion," said the official, who declined to be named.

Far-left groups, Kurdish separatist guerrillas and Islamic militants have all carried out similar attacks in the past in major Turkish cities.

Clashes between security forces and Kurdish rebels in the mainly-Kurdish southeast have considerably decreased since the rebels withdrew most of their forces from Turkey on the orders of condemned guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Turkish officials dismiss Ocalan's move as a "cynical bid" to escape the death penalty imposed on him for treason. He is now awaiting the result of his appeal to a European court.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

See related sites about Middle East

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.