ANKARA, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish armed forces have killed nearly 700 members of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) last year, military spokesman said on Friday.

    Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Metin Gurak told a weekly press briefing that 696 PKK members have been killed, 237 others were captured and 177 surrendered to the security forces in 2008.

    He also said that some 171 security personnel, including soldiers, police and government-paid village guards, were killed during the clashes with the PKK.

    Turkey launched several air force attacks and one major ground operation against PKK hideouts located in mountainous area of northern Iraq last year.

    The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, took up arms for self-rule in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeast in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed about 44,000 lives.