Turkish army says 2 of their soldiers, 6 Kurdish militants killed in clash near Iraq

REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Turkish soldiers watch over the Syrian town of Kobani as they take position near Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the Turkish town of Suruc in southeastern Sanliurfa province October 4, 2014.

Two Turkish soldiers died and two more were wounded in a clash with Kurdish militants in a rural area of southeast Turkey near the Iraqi border on Friday, the armed forces said.

The military later said six militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) had been "neutralized" in the ensuing operation in the region, which it said was still underway.

The firefight occurred in the Uludere district of Sirnak province, a military statement said.

The latest violence followed a week of clashes between the Turkish military and PKK militants in which more than 45 PKK fighters have been killed, state news agency Anadolu said.

A ceasefire between the Turkish state and the militants broke down in July 2015 and the southeast subsequently saw some of the worst violence since the PKK launched its insurgency in 1984.

More than 40,000 people, mostly Kurds, have been killed in the conflict. The PKK is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

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