By Xinhua
Ankara : Turkish troops killed 11 rebels of the outlawed Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) in a clash in eastern Turkey, the private Dogan news agency reported on Thursday.
The clash occurred near the city of Tunceli, said the report, adding that Turkish army has been hunting PKK rebels around Tunceli since a roadside bomb attack targeted a military convoy in the area on Wednesday.
Nearly 3,000 Turkish soldiers participated in the ongoing operation on Thursday, with attack helicopters bombing suspected PKK positions in rural areas of Tunceli.
There was no immediate comment from the military authorities, said Dogan.
The PKK, listed by the United States and Turkey as a terrorist group, took up arms against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in the southeast. More than 30,000 people have been killed in the over-two-decade conflict.