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| Turkey troops killed in Kurdish rebel clashes in Sirnak | Turkey troops killed in Kurdish rebel clashes in Sirnak |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Nine members of Turkey's security forces have been killed in clashes with Kurdish rebels in the south-eastern province of Sirnak, officials say. | Nine members of Turkey's security forces have been killed in clashes with Kurdish rebels in the south-eastern province of Sirnak, officials say. |
| Around 20 militants were also killed, close to the border with Syria and Iraq, governor Vahdettin Ozkan said. | Around 20 militants were also killed, close to the border with Syria and Iraq, governor Vahdettin Ozkan said. |
| The fighting broke out late on Sunday evening and was continuing, he said. | The fighting broke out late on Sunday evening and was continuing, he said. |
| Clashes between the army and the rebel PKK - which seeks autonomy for the Kurds - have intensified in the region in the past year. | Clashes between the army and the rebel PKK - which seeks autonomy for the Kurds - have intensified in the region in the past year. |
| The PKK attacked a police and military complex in the town of Beytussebap late on Sunday night with guns and rocket-launchers, Turkish media reported. | |
| Eight security officers were wounded, the governor said. | |
| Both the US and EU classify the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) as a terrorist organisation. It began a guerrilla campaign for an ethnic homeland in the Kurdish heartland of south-eastern Turkey in 1984. | |
| Fighting has increased in recent months, blamed partly on the turmoil in neighbouring Syria. | |
| Ankara accuses Syria of allowing the PKK to operate on its territory although government forces have ceded control of some Kurdish areas of northern Syria to the opposition. | |
| A month ago, rebels fired rocket launchers on a Turkish army border post in the middle of a large-scale military offensive in Hakkari province. | |
| More recently, the PKK was blamed for a bombing in the south-eastern city of Gaziantep which left nine people dead, including four children. The PKK denied any involvement. |