Turkish military kills 20 Kurdish rebels as fresh tensions rise

Ankara: At least 20 Kurdish rebel fighters were killed in fighting with Turkish military in the country's southeastern province of Hakkari, a media report said on Saturday.

The clashes broke out when the fighters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) tried attack army bases in the mountainous border province.

Citing the Turkish military, the Reuters reported that the PKK fighters had crossed into Turkey from northern Iraq and tried to attack the military bases.

Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southeast region has been rocked by violence after a ceasefire between the government and PKK broke down in July last year.

Turkey has designated the PKK as a terrorist organisation. The group had first started its armed rebellion in 1984.

According to the Reuters report, over 40,000 people, mostly Kurds, were killed in the decades-long fighting.