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Three dead in clashes between separatists, Turkish forces

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Sept 15, 2006 (AFP) - Eight people died in clashes between Kurdish separatists and pro-government militia members in eastern Turkey on Friday, a security official said.

The dead included six members of the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), one soldier and one militia member in a rural area close to Ercis about 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the Iranian border, the official said.

Army reinforcements have been sent to the area.

More than 37,000 people have died since the start of an armed campaign by the PKK for Kurdish self-rule in 1984. The group is blacklisted as a terrorist group by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.