Kurdish rebels have freed eight Turkish soldiers and officials as part of peace efforts with Turkey\'s government. The Kurdistan Workers\' Party (PKK) handed the six soldiers, one police officer and a local official to a Turkish delegation Monday in northern Iraq, where the outlawed group held at least some of the detainees for more than a year. Jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan had called for the captives to be released. He and the Turkish government have been in talks since last year to try to end a 28-year Kurdish insurgency aimed at gaining greater autonomy. The conflict has claimed nearly 40,000 lives. Turkey and much of the international community, including the United States, consider the PKK a terrorist group.