5 Turkish soldiers killed in clash with PKK militants

Five soldiers of the Turkish security forces were killed and one other wounded in a clash with the members of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in southeastern Turkey on Sunday, private NTV news channel reported. The clash between a group of the PKK militants and the Turkish security forces erupted near Ortaklar village of Semdinli town of Hakkari province, leaving five Turkish soldiers dead and one other wounded, according to the report. Listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, the PKK took up arms in 1984 in an attempt to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. Some 40,000 people have been killed in conflicts fuelled by PKK's separatist campaign in Turkey.