PKK militants kidnap 11 Turkish customs officials

The outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) militants abducted 11 customs officials and their driver, said a Turkish military statement on Sunday.

The hostages, who have been missing for two days, had been kidnapped at the Kapikoy border crossing with Iran by the "separatist terror organization," said the statement issued the Turkish General Staff without referring the PKK.

One kidnapped female customs official and the driver was freed in the region, local Hurriyet reported on Sunday,

Meanwhile, a group of PKK rebels early Sunday attacked the Turkish troops who were on duty for the security of a dam in Panak village in Kulp town of Diyarbakir province with rocket launchers and long barreled weapons, killing one Turkish soldier and wounding three others injured in the clashes, said a statement released by the Turkish General Staff.

The Turkish military has launched air and ground operations against the PKK targets after the attack on Sunday, added the statement.

Tensions between the PKK and Turkish security forces are increasing following a tumultuous week which began with an Islamic State (IS) suicide bombing July 20, killing 32 individuals and injuring 104 activists in the town of Suruc in the Sanliurfa province bordering Syria.

The People's Defense Forces (HPG), affiliated with the PKK, claimed responsibility for the death of the two police officers as retaliation to the Suruc bombing, insinuating that the officers were linked to IS.

Some 700 PKK members were killed and nearly 500 others wounded since one month as the military staged operations both targets in Turkey and in northern Iraq, Turkey's Science, Industry and Technology Minister Fikri Isik said on Saturday. Endit