PKK blocks road in Diyarbakır, kidnaps 3 more

A group of PKK militants reportedly stopped some 30 vehicles along the highway. They abducted three people, including Pvt. Ali Sabancı, who was travelling to his hometown of Gaziantep while on leave.

The PKK has recently stepped up its campaign of kidnapping civilians, with dozens having been abducted by the group in the past few weeks. A group of terrorists last week briefly abducted a British tourist.

The PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the EU, NATO and the United States, has been waging a bloody war in Turkey's Southeast since 1984. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

The organization is based in northern Iraq and launches attacks on Turkey from its hideouts in the mountainous region spanning the Iraq-Turkey border. The PKK also operates in various European cities.

Meanwhile, a 15-year-old boy was killed and one man was wounded in Turkey's troubled Southeast after gunfire erupted during the funeral of a PKK member, a local official said on Thursday.

There were conflicting accounts about who opened fire on the funeral procession in the town of Yüsekova near the border with Iraq after it turned into a rally in support of the PKK.

District Governor Aziz Üzeyir Özeren told reporters at the town in Hakkari province that PKK gunmen wearing civilian clothes rather than their usual green fatigues fired on protesters to stir up trouble. Teenager Özgür Taşar was killed and Veysel Yıldırım, 34, was wounded, Özeren said.