Eight Turkish troops killed in clashes with Kurdish fighters

Fresh clashes between Turkish troops and PKK rebels have taken place close to a military base southeast Turkey, leaving eight soldiers dead and at least six Kurdish fighters killed.

MENA

2 min read

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13 May, 2016

Six Turkish troops were killed and eight others wounded in fighting on Friday [Getty]

Six Turkish soldiers were killed and eight others wounded on Friday after clashes broke out with Kurdish militants near a military base in southeast Turkey.

Turkish troops clashed with members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party [PKK] close to the town of Cukurca, which lies near to the country's border with Iraq.

A Kobra helicopter sent to the scene to support the Turkish soldiers later crashed, resulting in the death of two pilots, the army said.

Turkish F-16 jets, helicopters and drones scrambled to fight the militants behind the attack and reinforcements were deployed. At least six Kurdish rebels were killed in the fighting.

On Thursday, four PKK militants were killed after explosives they were loading onto a truck detonated prematurely in an area near Diyarbakir southeast Turkey.

That incident came hours after eight people - including soldiers - were injured by a remotely-detonated car bomb aimed at a military vehicle in Istanbul.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the car bomb.

On Tuesday, three people were killed and 42 others wounded when a car bomb blast claimed by the PKK struck a police vehicle in Diyarbakir.

Fighting between the PKK and the government forces picked up again in July when a two year peace process collapsed. Around 400 security force members have died since then.

The PKK - considered a terrorist organisation by Ankara and its Western allies - has waged a three-decades-long insurgency against Turkey, in a bid to gain greater autonomy for Kurds in the southeast of the country.

Agencies contributed to this report.