Turkish forces kill 12 Kurdish militants in southeast: Sources

Clashes have flared across the mainly Kurdish southeast since a two-year ceasefire between the state and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants ended in July, reviving a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people over three decades.

Recent fighting has centred on the towns of Cizre and Silopi near the Syrian and Iraqi borders, along with the Sur district of Diyarbakir, the region’s largest city.

Security forces killed 16 militants in Cizre and two in Sur on Friday, according to a military statement.

The PKK, which launched its insurgency in 1984 and says it is fighting for autonomy and greater rights for Kurds, is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.