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Four killed in Turkey clashes: security sources

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, July 18, 2008 (AFP) - Two Kurdish rebels and two soldiers were killed overnight in fighting in southeast Turkey, security sources said Friday.

The rebels and one of the soldiers were killed in a clash that erupted in the mountains of Bingol province as troops patrolling the area came upon a group of militants from the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the sources said.

Soldiers were continuing Friday to hunt down militants who managed to escape, they said.

The second soldier died in fighting in the Kupeli mountains in Sirnak province near the Iraqi frontier, local officials said.

The army has since last week intensified its crackdown on the PKK in the southeast, confirming killing 33 rebels in Sirnak and neighbouring Hakkari, which also borders Iraq.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community, has waged a bloody campaign for self-rule in the Kurdish-majority east and southeast since 1984. The conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives.

The Turkish military has stepped up action against the PKK since December, conducting air strikes and a week-long ground offensive in northern Iraq, where the rebels take refuge.