Kurdish separatist guerrillas have blown up a section of a pipeline in eastern Turkey carrying natural gas from Iran, the Anatolian state news agency quoted local officials saying today.
CNN Turk television showed images of the fire caused by the blast, which occurred late yesterday evening in remote Agri province near the Iranian border.
"Members of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) terrorist organisation carried out the attack," Agri's provincial governor Halil Ibrahim Akpinar said.
A security operation had been launched after the attack to track down the culprits, he added.
Firemen worked through the night to douse the flames, which CNN Turk said could be seen at the height of the blaze in two neighbouring provinces. The television station also said the initial blast could be felt 25 miles away.
Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since the group launched its armed campaign for an independent Kurdish homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984.
Violent clashes between the PKK and Turkish security forces have risen steadily since the rebels called off a unilateral ceasefire in 2004.
Attribution of blame could not be verified but the PKK has targeted gas pipelines in eastern Turkey before.
The United States and the European Union as well as Turkey have placed the PKK on terrorism blacklists.