12 dead in Kurdish rebel attack on Turkey police minibus

Ankara: At least 12 Turkish policemen were killed Tuesday in a bomb attack in eastern Turkey blamed on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers` Party (PKK), the official Anatolia news agency said.

The attack targeted a minibus carrying police working in the Igdir region of eastern Turkey at the Dilucu border gate marking the border with Azerbaijan, Anatolia said.

Turkey`s security forces launched an operation against Kurdish militants after the attack, it added. 

This is the second deadliest attack of the current flare-up in unrest after 16 Turkish soldiers were killed at the weekend in the Kurdish-dominated southeast.

In response to that attack, Turkish warplanes launched a massive air operation early Tuesday against PKK targets, killing as many as 40 rebels.

The Turkish government vowed to eradicate PKK rebels after the attack.