Turkish troops kill five Kurdish rebels

Turkish troops, backed by helicopter gunships, killed five Kurdish rebels in an overnight clash in south-eastern Turkey.

The clash took place near the city of Bingol, CNN-Turk television reported. Clashes between troops and autonomy-seeking rebels have escalated recently in the region.

Kurdish guerrillas, who took up arms for autonomy in the Kurdish-dominated south-east in 1984, killed at least three soldiers and wounded nine others in separate attacks this week.

Two decades of violence has claimed the lives of more than 37,000 people.

Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish south-east has seen a surge in violence since rebels ended a five-year unilateral ceasefire a year ago, saying Turkey had not responded in kind.

Turkey has long blamed the US for inaction against rebel hideouts across the border in northern Iraq. The rebel group is branded a terrorist organisation both by the US State Department and the European Union.