15 killed in Turkish Army operation against Kurdish rebels

Two Turkish troops and 13 Kurdish rebels have been killed in a military operation in southeastern Turkey, security sources said Thursday. The air and ground operation, launched Wednesday, was targeting members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) sheltering in the mountainous areas near the town of Cukurca in Hakkari province, near the border with Iraq, according to the sources. F-16 fighter jets bombed the rebel hideouts in the area. Three troops were also wounded in the operation, which was still ongoing Thursday. The new operation came as part of a wider crackdown by the Turkish military to drive out the Kurdish rebels in the area, who have cranked up their attacks against Turkish security forces this summer. Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday 144 members of the security forces and 239 rebels had been killed since the start of the year, scrapping a previous toll that was much higher. In all, about 45,000 people have been killed since the PKK, which is blacklisted as a terrorist organization by Turkey and much of the international community, took up arms in the southeast in 1984.