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DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, July 23 (AFP) - 10h40 - Five
armed rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) were killed in fighting in Sirnak province in
southeastern Turkey, the provincial governor's
office said Saturday.
The clash erupted on July 21 during a military
operation in a zone where the borders of three
southeastern provinces -- Sirnak, Hakkari and Van --
merge, a statement said.
It added that a gunbattle ensued when "contact was
made with a group of terrorists ... (who) responded
with fire to a call for surrender."
It did not mention any losses on the Turkish side.
Violence in southeastern Turkey resumed in June 2004
after a five-year break, when the PKK called off a
unilateral ceasefire on the grounds that Ankara was
not doing enough to expand Kurdish freedoms.
The Kurdish conflict in Turkey has claimed about
37,000 lives, mostly between 1984 and 1999 when the
PKK, considered a terror group by the United States
and the European Union, waged a bloody campaign for
Kurdish self-rule in the region.
AFP
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