20 Kurdish rebels, 1 Turkish soldier killed in clashes in Hakkari

20 Kurdish fighters were also killed during the clashes in the Hakkari province that included Turkish airstrikes.

One Turkish soldier was killed and six wounded in clashes with Kurdish militants in the volatile southeast, Turkey’s state-run news agency said

This picture taken on Thursday in the Turkish-Syrian border town of Karkamis, in the southern region of Gaziantep, shows smoke rising close to the Syrian-Turkish border town of Jarabulus.(AFP)

Anadolu said on Friday that 20 Kurdish fighters were also killed during the clashes in the Hakkari province that included Turkish airstrikes.

Violence between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and Turkish security forces resumed last year after the collapse of a two-year peace process. Since then, more than 600 Turkish security personnel and thousands of PKK militants have been killed, according to Anadolu. Rights groups say hundreds of civilians have also been killed in the clashes.

Last week, Turkey sent tanks across the Syrian border to fight the Islamic State group and to halt the advance of Syrian Kurdish groups affiliated with the PKK.