Five Turkish police officers and two civilians were killed on August 15, in a car bombing outside the southeastern city of Diyarbakir blamed on Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels, the government said. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)
ANKARA, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- 11 Turkish soldiers were killed in clashes with the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party ( PKK) militants on Friday in eastern Van and southeastern Mardin provinces, Milliyet News reported.
Three soldiers were killed when a military post in Dargecit district of Mardin was attacked by PKK militants on Friday, and three village guards and a civilian were injured.
Eight Turkish soldiers have been killed in the ongoing clashes between security forces and PKK militants in mountainside of eastern Van province, the governorship told local media.
Meanwhile, 33 PKK militants were killed and 30 others injured after Turkish air forces carried out three air-and-ground operations on Friday Morning against PKK positions in southeastern Turkish province of Hakkari, The Turkish General Staff said in a statement.
Over 600 members of Turkish security forces and thousands of PKK members have been killed in confrontations inside Turkey and in northern Iraq since July of 2015, and Turkish forces have killed over 7000 PKK militants, local media figured.
More than 40,000 people have lost their lives in clashes with the PKK since 1984, when the group first started anti-government attacks.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Turkey.
