PKK claims responsibility for blast at Turkish gas pipeline

"On August 11, our guerrillas carried out a sabotage action against the Iran-Turkey natural gas pipeline near Dogubeyazit town of Agri," the PKK group said on its website Saturday.

The explosion last week occurred in part of the pipeline that is in Turkish territory near the border with Iran, the latter's semiofficial Fars News Agency reported.

The explosion could cause a halt in gas exports to Turkey for about a week, the agency said.

The United States considers the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, a terror group.

Kurdish fighters are seeking autonomy in Turkey's southeast and have been locked in a bloody conflict with the government since the 1980s. More than 30,000 people have been killed during the conflict.

The group also claimed responsibility for another blast at a gas pipeline on August 3 in southeastern Turkey.