Thirteen Kurd rebels were killed in Turkish air strikes on a town in the Kurdish-dominated southeast of the country after a Turkish soldier was killed in fighting there, local security sources said Friday.
The soldier was killed in clashes that erupted Thursday between Turkish security forces and members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the town of Semdinli that lies close to the border with both Iraq and Iran.
The Turkish army responded with air strikes on PKK members in the town, killing 13 rebels, the sources said.Semdinli is the scene of frequent clashes between Turkish security forces and PKK militants.On Sunday, a car bomb targeting a police vehicle exploded in the town, killing an 11-year old child and wounding 18 other people in an attack blamed on Kurdish rebels.
The PKK is labelled as a terrorist organisation by Turkey and much of the international community.
About 45,000 people have been killed since the party took up arms for autonomy in Kurdish-majority southeastern Turkey in 1984.
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