Bus driver killed in highway ambush in eastern Turkey

A civilian minibus driver has died after he was shot by Kurdish separatists in northeastern Turkey on Monday, local officials said.

Garip Bektas, 43, was killed after suspected Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants stopped another bus on the Erzurum to Ardahan highway and set it on fire, officials from Oltu and Senkaya districts told Anadolu Agency.

They reported that Bektas, a father-of-two, came across the scene and tried to run away when he was shot near the village of Aydogdu.

Police have launched an investigation.

The PKK -- considered a terror organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU -- renewed its armed campaign last month, since when it is said to have been responsible for the deaths of more than 40 security forces personnel.