ANKARA (Reuters) - Two Turkish soldiers were killed and two were wounded late on Monday in northern Iraq in a blast caused by an improvised explosive device planted by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants, the armed forces said on Tuesday.

It said the Turkish air force subsequently carried out air strikes in the same Zap region of northern Iraq, killing eight PKK fighters. The military statement said the incident was separate from another blast earlier on Monday in northern Iraq in which two soldiers were killed.