DIYARBAKIR: Turkey’s armed forces killed 23 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters in the latest clashes in eastern Turkey, including three militants who died in an air strike, the general staff said on Saturday.

Security sources said warplanes and attack helicopters fired on a mountainous, forested area in the eastern province of Tunceli after military drones spotted a group of about 20 PKK rebels there on Friday.

The armed forces’ statement said three of the militants were killed in the air strikes.

Thousands of militants and hundreds of civilians and soldiers have been killed since the PKK resumed its fight for Kurdish autonomy last summer, ending a 2-1/2-year ceasefire and shattering peace efforts.

Turkish warplanes have frequently struck PKK targets since the conflict revived, mainly hitting the group’s bases in northern Iraq.

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2016