Thirteen Turkish soldiers have been injured Monday night when a planted handmade explosive was detonated as a military convoy was passing in the eastern province of Van, security sources said, according to Turkish weekly.

Security sources told reporters that the incident happened at around 11.30 p.m. (2030GMT) Monday night on the Baskale-Hakkari highway. PKK terrorists are suspected of having detonated the planted handmade bomb by remote control.

The injured soldiers were taken to Baskale State Hospital. After the first medical interventions, they were taken by helicopter to Yuzuncu Yil University’s Dursun Odabas Medical Center for additional treatment.

Turkish security forces have launched a broad operation in the region to apprehend those responsible for the attack.

A total of 123 Turkish security forces have been martyred and 29 civilians killed by the PKK terror organization militants since the conflict reignited in July.

The Turkish army has officially killed a total of 1,196 PKK terrorists in ground-and-air operations from July 22 to Sept. 17.

Source: MENA