Two soldiers, including a major, were killed Tuesday when PKK terrorists detonated a bomb while an armored military vehicle was passing by in the Lice district of southeastern Diyarbakır province.

The attack took place on the highway between Lice and Kulp.

A sergeant was also killed in the blast and one other was wounded.

A large scale operation was launched in the region.

Separately, three PKK terrorists were killed in a drone-backed operation in the eastern province of Tunceli, according to a statement from the Interior Ministry.

Meanwhile, 17 terrorists were killed in Turkey in the week to Monday, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

In addition, 11 surrendered and seven were captured since July 24.

The ministry's statement did not specify the terrorist group or groups involved, but Turkey is embroiled in a long-running fight against militants from the PKK, Daesh, the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and the far left.

During the week, there were 1,157 counterterrorism operations that led to 243 arrests for aiding the PKK, 57 on suspicion of links to Daesh, 593 suspected of ties to FETÖ and said to be behind last year's attempted coup and 28 believed to be tied to left-wing groups.

Narcotics teams across the country conducted 2,108 operations, the statement added, leading to the seizure of more than 3,800 kilograms of cannabis, 755 kilograms of heroin and more than 1.8 million pills.

Nearly 3,000 suspects were arrested in narcotics raids.

The General Staff said in a statement Monday that airstrikes on PKK targets in the Zap area of northern Iraq on Sunday led to the deaths of three PKK terrorists and the destruction of two ammunition depots and two logistics bases.

Jets struck the same area on Monday afternoon, the General Staff later added.

The PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU, has waged a separatist insurgency against the Turkish state for more than 30 years in which more than 40,000 people have been killed. It is also involved in the illicit production, manufacturing and trafficking of drugs.