ISTANBUL: Eight Turkish soldiers were killed on Wednesday in a bomb attack on their vehicle in the southeast blamed on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the army said.

The soldiers were killed when a remote-controlled explosive device laid by militants on a road in the Silvan district of the province of Siirt was detonated, Anatolia said.

The army confirmed the toll in a statement, blaming the “Separatist Terror Organization,” its customary phrase for the PKK which it never refers to by name.

Seven soldiers were also wounded in the attack and military helicopters and ambulances were dispatched to the area, Anatolia said, adding that the clashes between the militants and soldiers were continuing.

Meanwhile, police arrested two people after a hand grenade was hurled and shots were fired at officers guarding Istanbul’s Dolmabache Palace, an Ottoman-era palace that is a major tourist attraction, the Istanbul governor’s office said. One police officer was slightly injured, according to the Anatolia news agency.