By Xinhua
Ankara : At least 77 Kurdish separatists were killed on the sixth day of cross-border operations in the north of Iraq, Turkish army said Wednesday.
In a statement posted on its website, the General Staff of Turkish Army said that Tuesday’s clashes have killed 77 fighters of outlawed Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), bringing the guerrilla death toll to 230 since the beginning of the operations.
The General Staff said that the Turkish Army encountered several PKK groups and there were clashes in two different areas on the sixth day of the operation.
Meanwhile, five Turkish soldiers and three village guards were also killed in the operation, the statement added.
Since last Thursday, the Turkish manoeuvre units so far destroyed 47 caves, 187 shelters and hideouts, 29 light gun positions, 38 anti aircraft positions and 11 transportation facilities belonging to the PKK.
The PKK, listed by the US and Turkey as a terrorist group, took up arms against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in the southeast of the country.
More than 30,000 people have been killed in the over-two-decade conflict.