Turkey explosion kills 7

A vehicle carrying Turkish security forces in an eastern province exploded Tuesday, killing six of them as well as a civilian walking on the road.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast in Tunceli, but Kurdish rebels are active in the city, reported the Associated Press. Ambulances and firefighters rushed to the scene as the explosion sent up a huge billow of smoke, and the military has started an operation to try to find those responsible for the attack.

More from GlobalPost: 75 Kurdish rebels killed in southeast Turkey

Militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have carried out a number of attacks on military targets over the past few months, according to Reuters. Turkey, the United States and the European Union consider the party a terrorist group. The most recent fighting has been some of the heaviest since the PKK began in 1984 wit the goal of creating a Kurdish state.

PKK militants killed 10 soldiers and wounded at least 60 others last Tuesday when rockets were fired at a military convoy traveling between the provinces of Bingol and Mus, Reuters also reported.

During the past 14 months, more than 700 people have been killed in the war between Turkey and the PKK, noted CNN. The Kurds are Turkey's largest ethnic minority and make up around 20 percent of the country's population.