Ten killed by roadside bomb attack on minibus

Turkish troops launched an operation to hunt those believed to be behind yesterday's attack which also injured four people including a 15-month-old baby near the village of Gecitli in the rugged Hakkari province bordering Iran and Iraq, Hakkari Governor Muammer Turker said.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to press ahead with the fight against the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

"These kinds of incidents will not deter us," Mr Erdogan said after the attack. "Terrorism has a cost but it will not remain unanswered."

A brief scuffle broke out between Kurdish villagers when soldiers arrived to investigate, after some villagers allegedly refused to hand over a bag they found, CNN-Turk television said. Soldiers could be seen firing shots into the air while a youth was shown throwing a rock at troops.

Kurdish rebels have targeted military vehicles with improvised explosive devices, with the latest such attack on Wednesday in Hakkari province. There have also been several other attacks on police over the past week, which would violate a cease-fire the rebels declared before a religious holiday as a pro-Kurdish party called on the government to open dialogue with rebels for a peaceful solution.

The pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party boycotted a referendum on Sunday over the constitution, arguing that ethnic Kurdish identity was not fully recognised by the state.

It is now calling for a five-day boycott of schools when they open on September 20 to force the government into allowing Kurdish-language education for Kurdish children.

Teaching in schools is in Turkish, although Turkey recently took steps toward wider Kurdish-language education by allowing the opening of Kurdish-language institutes and Kurdish courses at universities.