Turkey-PKK conflict: Scores dead in clashes in southeast

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Security forces have killed 20 Kurdish militants in clashes southeastern Turkey, the Turkish military said.

Three Turkish soldiers also died in a rebel attack, the military said.

Hundreds of residents have fled parts of the city of Diyarbakir that are under curfew amid heavy fighting.

The region has suffered its worst violence in two decades since a ceasefire between the Turkish government and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) collapsed in July.

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The PKK, which has fought for autonomy for Turkey's Kurdish minority for decades, has been attacking security forces, while the army has been besieging Kurdish-dominated towns.

The army said 11 PKK members had died in the town of Cizre near the Syrian border and nine had been killed in the Sur district of Diyarbakir - bringing the overall death toll to about 600 since the beginning of a security operation last month.

The three soldiers were killed in Sur during an attack using rifles and a rocket launcher, the army added.

The Turkish Human Rights Foundation says at least 198 civilians, including 39 children, have died in areas under curfew since August.

The European Union has called for an immediate ceasefire.

Turkey's pro-Kurdish HDP party, rights groups and a doctors' association have also demanded that the Turkish authorities allow emergency services to reach a building in Cizre.

More than 25 people are reported to be sheltering there - four people have died, and three more are in a critical condition.

But the local governor's office said emergency services were unable to enter the area because of the PKK.

Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK):