The firefight occurred in the mountains of Van province. The army sent reinforcements to fight rebels from the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Several of the militants escaped.

The PKK took up arms in Turkey's Kurdish-majority east and southeast in 1984, sparkling a conflict that has claimed about 45,000 lives.

Ankara is currently working on a package of fresh reforms to expand the freedoms of the Kurdish community, but has rejected calls to halt military action against the PKK.