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Turkish forces kill 15 Kurdish rebels near Iraq border

26 July 2012 03:07 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Turkish troops have killed at least 15 Kurdish separatist rebels of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) in a clash near the country’s border with Iraq, officials said, APA reports quoting Press YV.

The Turkish military said on Wednesday that the rebels were killed after Turkish drones spotted a group of Kurdish fighters who had blocked roads in Hakkari province on Tuesday.

Three Turkish soldiers were also injured in the exchange of fire.

Turkey launched a large-scale air and land offensive against the armed separatists in October in the southeast of the country and in northern Iraq after 24 of its troops were killed in an overnight terrorist attack

In December, Turkish air strikes killed 34 Kurdish smugglers, mostly teenagers, near the Iraqi border when commanders mistook them for PKK militants.

Tens of thousands of people have lost their lives since PKK terrorists embarked on an armed struggle against Ankara in 1984 in a quest to form an independent Kurdish state in southeastern Turkey

The Kurdistan Workersâ€™ Party is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international communities, including Turkey, Iran, the European Union, and the United States.