11 PKK rebels killed in clash with Turkish troops

Eleven members of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) were killed in an armed clash with the Turkish security forces in southeastern Turkey, the semi- official Anatolia news agency reported Tuesday.

Anatolia had reported earlier that nine PKK members were killed in the clash between a group of the PKK rebels and the security forces in Semdinli town of Hakkari province on Tuesday.

The PKK rebels armed with long-range weapons had attacked a Turkish military outpost in Semdinli town, killing three soldiers and wounding another three, the report said.

A large-scale operation was launched in pursuit of the region's PKK rebels, the report said.

The Turkish armed forces said the PKK might intensify attacks over the summer when more PKK guerrillas arrive in Turkey from the mountainous areas in northern Iraq during warmer weather.

The PKK, labelled as a terrorist group by the Turkish government, the United States and the European Union, took up arms in 1984 to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. Some 40,000 people have been killed in the conflicts since then.

Source: Xinhua