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Turkish troops in rebel clashes | Turkish troops in rebel clashes |
(30 minutes later) | |
Five soldiers and five rebels have been killed in clashes involving Kurdish separatists in the south-east close to the Iraqi border, Turkey's army says. | |
Another Turkish soldier died and 15 were wounded when a helicopter carrying reinforcements crashed because of a technical failure, a statement said. | |
It said the rebels died in two other clashes. There is no confirmation. | |
Turkey has staged cross-border raids into northern Iraq recently in pursuit of the Kurdish rebels. | |
The militants belong to the Kurdistan Workers' Party which has been fighting for autonomy in the south-east for over two decades. | |
More than 30,000 people have been killed in the conflict so far. | More than 30,000 people have been killed in the conflict so far. |
The latest clashes broke out on Wednesday when PKK rebels opened fire on a group of soldiers in Hakkari province, the Turkish military said in a statement. | |
The PKK rebels died in two separate operations in Semdinli and Sirnak near the Iraqi border, according to the statement. | |
The PKK has been blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. | |
The Turkish government accuses Iraq of failing to stop the guerrillas from using northern Iran as a safe haven. | The Turkish government accuses Iraq of failing to stop the guerrillas from using northern Iran as a safe haven. |
The army has launched almost daily raids in the south-east and across the border into Iraq in retaliation for a series of deadly attacks by PKK rebels. | |
Earlier this month militants ambushed and killed 17 Turkish soldiers at a border outpost, in the worst attack on the military in more than a year. |