23 Kurdish rebels killed in clashes in Turkey: Report

Ankara: Turkey's state-run news agency says the number of Kurdish rebels killed in two days of operations launched by the security forces in southeast Turkey has reached 23.

The government has imposed curfews in the mainly Kurdish towns of Cizre and Silopi to allow the security forces to battle militants to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, who have moved their fight for Kurdish autonomy to some towns and city neighbourhood.

The Anadolu Agency said today 22 rebels were killed in Cizre and one other was killed in Silopi in the past two days.

Media reports say thousands of police and soldiers were deployed to the two towns, near Turkey's border with Iraq.

Hundreds of people have died since July in renewed fighting between the PKK and Turkish troops.