9 killed as Turkish forces, Kurdish rebels clash

Violence between security forces and Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey left one police officer and eight rebels dead, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported Monday. The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) launched five simultaneous attacks against security positions late Sunday, killing one police officer, the agency quoted the Sirnak governor's office as saying. Sirnak province borders Syria and Iraq. Also on Sunday, Turkish troops backed by jets launched an assault against Kurdish rebels in the Beytussebap district of the same province, killing eight rebels. About 45,000 people have been killed since the PKK took up arms for autonomy in Kurdish-majority southeastern Turkey in 1984.