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Turkish forces kill two suspected Kurdish rebels

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, July 20, 2007 (AFP) - Turkish security forces killed two members of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on Friday in fighting in the southeast region near the Iraqi and Syrian borders, officials said.

A statement from the governor's office in Sirnak province said the man and the woman who were killed had been carrying guns, grenades and explosives. They were behind a mine attack which killed three soldiers in the area last month.

The PKK, regarded as a terrorist organisation by the Turkish authorities, the United States and the European Union, has stepped up its attacks since the beginning of the year.

According to figures collated by a rights group, 111 soldiers, 109 PKK members and five civilians were killed in the Kurdish-dominated southeast region between January and the end of June.

More than 37,000 people have died since the PKK took up arms in 1984 for independence for Kurds in the east and southeast of Turkey.