Turkish pilot foils PKK attempt to blow up helicopter

A helicopter pilot transporting Turkish soldiers to a rural area in eastern Turkey narrowly avoided falling into a booby trap set by militants when he realized the patch of ground he was about to land on had been disturbed, leading him to abort the landing.

A subsequent dig revealed that an explosive device had been buried at the location by suspected members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The PKK had intensified its road block activities in the eastern province of Tunceli’s Ovacık district last week in a purported plan to lure troop-transporting helicopters into a trap, daily Milliyet reported on its website today.

A squadron of soldiers from the gendarmerie was dispatched to rural Ovacık to search for the PKK militants blocking roads in the vicinity. The pilot of a Sikorsky transport helicopter found a suitable location in the rugged terrain and was about to land when he realized the ground he was about to land on appeared to have been newly turned over. Suspecting a trap, the pilot aborted the mission and returned to base while a separate team was sent to inspect the location.

Soldiers searching the location found a "very powerful explosive device" buried in the ground and destroyed it.

Two PKK militants were killed and four were injured in an operation following the incident, while numerous other explosives buried in clearings in the woodlands – suitable places for helicopters to land – were found and destroyed.

The PKK is recognized as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

Muslims Kill Muslims - The Peaceful Religion of Death (and blame the West)

Death toll rises to 40 in Iraq blast, at least 75 wounded - police

Two car bombs in a busy market went off in the southern Iraqi city of Diwaniya on Tuesday, killing 40 and wounding at least 75 according to police.

­The attack is the latest in a series of sectarian violence, according Reuters reports.

The two roadside bombs went off near a mosque, targeting Shi'ite pilgrims. Police have announced a partial curfew and closed all entrances to the city.

"All of a sudden the explosion happened, I felt the power of the blast, it was so strong, it broke all the glass in my windows," a butcher Ahmed Hassan, 23, told Reuters. His shop was close to where the explosion took place.

"I smelled blood and gunpowder…We even saw body parts on the top of building, we took them down."

Witnesses said the bomb appeared to have been planted in a delivery truck.

Earlier in the day, two bombs killed four people and wounded 29 near the central Iraqi city of Kerbala, hospital and police sources said.

Diwaniya is where shi’ite pilgrims are gathering this week, a stop on their way to Kerbala to celebrate the birthday of one of the most important imams.

A spike in recent attacks has raised fears that the country may slip back into widespread violence between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims.

50 kilos of explosives deactivated in eastern Turkey

Security forces have defused 50 kilograms of explosives in the eastern province of Tunceli which were planted by suspected members of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), daily Hürriyet reported today.

Military forces reportedly discovered the explosives on a road while conducting an operation against PKK militants at around 5:30 a.m. this morning after locating a group of militants near the Uzuntarla area.

Bomb squads were immediately dispatched to the scene and deactivated the explosives which were planted on three plots two meters apart on the road.

Officials reported that the high-explosive bombs were prepared so that they could be detonated by both remote control and cable connection.

Tunceli Gov. Mustafa Taşkesen said operations launched by security forces were still continuing, according to reports.

Sweden on nuclear facility alert as explosives found at plant

Sweden has raised the alert at all its nuclear facilities after bomb sniffer dogs discovered an explosive device in the back of a truck near Stockholm’s Ringhals atomic power station. Police are investigating the incident.

Although the device lacked a detonator, officers have evacuated the area around the truck and are questioning the driver. Initial reports point to sabotage, with no immediate suspects.

Police spokesman Tommy Nyman said the driver was unaware of the explosives.

“An outsider has obviously placed them on the truck…we're talking to the truck driver and are trying to map out her movements within the premises throughout the day,” Nyman said.

Swedish bomb technicians noted that due to the lack of a detonator, there was no immediate risk of explosion. Furthermore, officials from the Ringhals power plant say that even had the explosives gone off, they would not have posed any threat to the reactor.

“Under the first step onto the truck there is a fire extinguisher and that is where the explosive had been placed,” Gosta Larsen, Head of Communication at the Ringhals plant, told the Swedish news source TT, adding that the discovery was “worrying”.

Officials say the device was like "the size of a small fist, shaped like a plastic explosive". It was discovered during a routine check.

Multiple attacks across Iraq kill over 60

A series of six bomb attacks across Iraq have left over 60 people dead and at least 200 injured, say Iraqi police. Multiple explosions in Baghdad targeted a Shia Muslim procession in the latest escalation of sectarian violence in the country.

­Twin bomb blasts hit near a restaurant in the southern city of Hilla, killing 35 people and injuring 32, say local police.

In Baghdad a series of bombings targeted a Shia Muslim festival, causing multiple casualties. Pilgrims had gathered to celebrate the anniversary of the death of Shia imam Moussa al-Kadhim.

Iraq’s interior ministry has released a statement saying security would be stepped up across Baghdad as more violence is expected.

Separately, three car bombs have struck the oil-rich city of Kirkuk in the North of the country, claiming one victim and wounding 24. One of the explosions reportedly targeted the headquarters of Kurdish president Massoud Barzani.

There has been a wave of attacks recently against Shia Muslims in the country.

The latest spate of violence erupted on Sunday when a mortar attack on a religious shrine killed four people in the capital.