Two people die in Turkish landmine explosion
Date: 02-May-02
Country: TURKEY
Thousands of mines are strewn across the southeast, scene of a 17-year-long conflict between Turkish soldiers and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas fighting for a Kurdish homeland.
The victims were local residents who accidentally detonated the landmines after walking on to a field in Sirnak province late this week, the official said.
More than 30,000 people died in the fighting, but violence has tapered off since PKK commander Abdullah Ocalan was captured and sentenced to death in 1999.
Some 200 people have died and hundreds more have been crippled or wounded in landmine explosions in Turkey.
Ankara is not yet a signatory to the 1997 Ottawa Convention banning mines, but has said it intends to sign the treaty.
