Twin PKK attacks kill six Turkish soldiers

Two soldiers were shot when PKK members opened fire in the Derik district of Mardin province in the early morning, the army said.

Less than an hour later, four Turkish troops died in a roadside bomb attack by the PKK in the Hakkari province southeast of the country.

Turkey is suffering from a surge of violence since last summer when a fragile truce with the Kurdish rebels collapsed. The PKK has fought the Turkish state for decades in a conflict that has claimed thousands of lives.

Since the start of the year, Turkey has been hit by a sequence of attacks that have rattled citizens and also caused tourism to plummet.

Earlier this month, three soldiers and three civilians were killed in an attack claimed by the PKK considered by Ankara and its allies to be a terrorist group.

Another attack a day earlier, which targeted a police vehicle during the morning rush hour, killed 11 people.

Two separate blasts in Ankara claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) – a radical splinter group of the PKK – claimed dozens of lives earlier this year.

Last month, at least eight people including soldiers were wounded by a remotely detonated car bomb aimed at a military vehicle in Istanbul that was claimed by the PKK.

Meanwhile, a dozen German tourists were killed on January 12 in a bombing in the heart of Istanbul's tourist district blamed on Islamic State [IS] group militants.

At least three Israelis and an Iranian were killed in a March bombing on Istanbul's main Istiklal shopping street which was also pinned on IS militants.

The attacks in Turkey's heartland have had a dire effect on the tourism industry and further violence in Istanbul comes at the worst possible time heading into the key summer season. The US embassy in Turkey in April warned of "credible threats" to tourist areas in Istanbul and the resort city of Antalya, in particular to public squares and docks.