DIYARBAKIR (Reuters) - A Turkish soldier was killed in an armed attack in Nusaybin in Turkey’s southeast and 12 policemen and three civilians were wounded in an ambush on a police vehicle, the armed forces and other security sources said on Saturday.

A handmade explosive was detonated in the ambush as a special forces police vehicle passed on a road to Mazidagi in Mardin province, security sources said, adding that clashes followed.

In Nusaybin, the soldier was injured having been attacked during operations against the separatist militant group Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). He was taken to hospital, where he died, a statement from the armed forces said.

Attacks on Turkey’s security forces have increased amid a surge in violence in the predominantly Kurdish southeast that has killed hundreds of people, since the collapse of a ceasefire between the PKK and the state in July.

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