Kurdish rebels blamed for bomb explosion in Turkey that killed 2 security guards

Turkey's state-run news agency says an improvised explosive device believed to have been planted by Kurdish rebels has exploded on a road in the country's southeast, killing two government-paid village guards.

Anadolu Agency said two other village guards were wounded Wednesday in the explosion in the mainly Kurdish-populated Sirnak province, near the border with Iraq.

Anadolu said an operation has been launched to catch the perpetrators.

The village guards support Turkey's military in fighting the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has waged a more than three-decade-long insurgency in Turkey's southeastern region.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people since 1984. The group is considered a terror organization by Turkey and its allies.