Officials said the PKK fighters launched rocket-propelled grenades toward a military vehicle on its way to the Navy logistics base.

"Members of the separatist terrorist organization attacked a military vehicle that transported troops to their sentry posts in the naval logistics base with RPG-7 rocket launchers and long-range weapons at around 11:58 p.m. on Sunday [May 30]," Hatay Gov. Mehmet Lekesiz said.

Iskenderun has been the source of a decades-old border dispute between Turkey and Syria. Over the last five years, the two countries agreed to reconcile differences, develop the Iskenderun area and remove hundreds of thousands of mines along the border.

"These vicious attacks will never be able to achieve their aims against the will and determination of our state and nation," Turkish President Abdullah Gul said.

The PKK has escalated attacks on Turkey's military and security forces along the borders of Iraq and Syria. Imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan said his insurgency group would halt efforts to engage in a reconciliation dialogue with Ankara.

Since March 2010, 28 Turkish soldiers have been killed in PKK attacks. The latest strike, called the first time the PKK has used long-range weapons, sparked an alert within the Turkish military command and the return of Chief of Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug and his deputy Aslan Guner from abroad.

"Security measures will not be enough on their own," Guner said. "A comprehensive solution is needed, and everyone knows it."

The Turkish opposition has urged the government and military to escalate its offensive against the PKK. The opposition said the government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has been sidetracked from launching a genuine effort to end the Kurdish insurgency.

"Soldiers are dying every day," Oktay Vural, deputy chairman of the opposition National Movement Party, said. "The government does not have an active, full-scale combat understanding or political determination. So many soldiers have died, and the interior minister hasn't even released a statement and the prime minister is sightseeing abroad."

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