Report: 12 Kurdish rebels killed in clashes in southeast Turkey, brings 2-day death toll to 18
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Turkey's state-run news agency says security forces have killed 12 Kurdish rebels in clashes in the southeast, raising the two-day death toll in the fighting to 18.
The Anadolu Agency says 12 Kurdish fighters were killed Thursday in an operation that was backed by air power. That came a day after Kurdish rebel raids on a paramilitary post and a military installation near the border with Iraq sparked clashes that left three soldiers and three rebels dead.
There's been a surge in violence in recent months between Turkish forces and rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which is fighting for autonomy for Kurds in southeast Turkey.
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Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the PKK took up arms in 1984.