DIYARBAKIR, Turkey
Eighteen militants of the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) have been killed in a security operation in southeastern Turkey, security sources said on Wednesday.
Most of the deaths centered on Lice, a town around 70 kilometers (45 miles) northwest of Diyarbakir city, where 14 PKK militants were killed, according to police and Gendarmerie sources in the province who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The operation began on Monday, when 700 security forces members flooded the area. Fighting was still ongoing on Wednesday night in nearby Fisova, an Anadolu Agency correspondent reported.
In a separate incident, four alleged PKK members were killed in Silvan, around 90 kilometers east of Diyabakir, on Wednesday, according to the same sources.
Operations against the PKK - considered a terror group by Turkey, the EU and U.S. - came after it renewed attacks on Turkish security forces following the July 20 Suruc bombing. Around 50 police and soldiers have been martyred in attacks attributed to the insurgents while hundreds of alleged PKK members have been killed.
