Militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) killed 10 Turkish soldiers and a village guardsman in two separate incidents in Turkey, state media reported on Saturday.

Eight Turkish soldiers were killed during clashes with rebels in the eastern province of Van on Friday, the governor’s office said, quoted by state-run news agency Anadolu.

Eight soldiers were also injured in the same operation against the “separatist terror organisation”, the name Turkey gives to the PKK, Anadolu reported.

Late on Friday, two soldiers and a village guard were killed in an attack on a checkpoint in Mardin in the restive southeast blamed on the PKK, the agency reported.

The guard killed was part of a group of local residents who cooperate with Turkish security forces against the PKK, listed as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies. Three security guards were also wounded.

In a statement, the Van governor’s office said the condition of those in hospital was “good”, although their treatment continued.

Thirteen PKK fighters were killed by Turkish jets around Tendurek mountains in Van province, the office said, while Anadolu reported that the operation supported by the air force continued.

Since the collapse of a two-year ceasefire in July, Anadolu reported over 600 Turkish security force members have been killed by the PKK in renewed fighting.

The government has responded with military operations against the group, killing more than 7,000 militants in Turkey and northern Iraq, the agency said. It is not possible to independently verify the toll.

Activists claim innocent civilians have also been killed in the offensives.

More than 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK first took up arms in 1984.

Source: AFP