Four Kurds killed in clash with Turkish

At least four Kurdish rebel fighters were killed in a clash with soldiers in Turkey's southeast region on Friday, a Turkish military…

At least four Kurdish rebel fighters were killed in a clash with soldiers in Turkey's southeast region on Friday, a Turkish military official said.

About 1,000 commandos, backed up by helicopter gunships, joined regular army units in the firefight.

Turkey has fought a decades-long war with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), also known as KADEK, in which more than 30,000 people have been killed, most of them Kurds.

In a separate clash in the same province, the official said at least four more KADEK rebels had been taken captive.

Turkey's parliament agreed on Tuesday to the deployment of troops in neighbouring Iraq after a US request, hoping this would encourage the United States to crack down on KADEK rebels based in camps in northern Iraq.

The latest clashes occurred hundreds of kilometres from the Iraqi border.

  • Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date

  • Sign up for push alerts to get the best breaking news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone

  • Listen to In The News podcast daily for a deep dive on the stories that matter