ANKARA, Turkey - Kurdish terrorists kidnapped a Turkish soldier Monday after stopping dozens of cars at a makeshift roadblock in the southeast, according to a report.

The attack comes amid escalating violence and was unusually bold for the rebels, who have recently staged hit-and-run or bombing attacks but have been unable to mount sustained attacks.

Monday’s kidnapping came after five Kurdish terrorists set up a roadblock and stopped some 40 cars at gunpoint on the road between the southeastern towns of Tunceli and Pulumur, regional Gov. Mustafa Erkal said.

The terrorists robbed the passengers and shouted rebel slogans before escaping with a hostage, Erkal said. He did not identify the hostage, but the Anatolia news agency said the rebels took a soldier who was traveling to his hometown for vacation.

The last kidnapping was in 1995, when Kurdish terrorists grabbed eight soldiers and held them for two years before releasing them.

The kidnapping comes amid an upsurge in violence that since May has killed 30 soldiers and 25 rebels.

Militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, have battled government forces in a conflict that has killed more than 37,000 people since 1984 in southeastern Turkey.