Minibus blast in south-east Turkey

Nine die in minibus blast in south-east Turkey.

A blast has killed nine people and injured three in a minibus in an area of south-east Turkey where Kurdish rebels have been active.

It was not immediately clear if the explosion had occurred inside the vehicle or whether the minibus had run over a landmine.

The blast happened near the city of Hakkari, bordering Iran and Iraq.

Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants have officially been on ceasefire since last month.

The civilian minibus was passing through the village of Gecitli and the passengers are believed to have been villagers.

Initial accounts had put the number of dead as high as 12.
Autonomy call

The PKK, designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the EU and the US, has waged a 26-year insurgency against the Turkish state which has claimed 40,000 lives.

A ceasefire it declared in August is not due to expire until 20 September.

The ceasefire followed a period of violence between the rebels and the military, which had escalated since the PKK called off a previous truce in June.

In an interview for Spanish newspaper El Mundo earlier this week, PKK leader Murat Karayilan said the group would accept autonomous status for the Kurdish region like that possessed by Catalonia in Spain.

Catalonia has its own police force and parliament.

"If we obtain a Catalonia[-style] autonomy, we would lay down our weapons and hand them over to the United Nations," he was quoted as saying.

The PKK leader added that the group's strategy depended on whether or not Turkey continued "attacks and detentions of Kurds".