Ankara  – Four Kurdish separatist militants have been killed in clashes with Turkish troops in south-east Turkey, the Dogan news agency reported on Saturday.

The fighting on Friday took place in the Lice district of Diyarbakir, just four kilometres away from the scene of a Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) roadside bomb attack that left nine soldiers dead last month.

Dogan reported that Turkish troops have been involved in a five-day operation in Diyarbakir and Bingol seeking to clear the area of any PKK fighters.

Ankara blames the separatist group for the deaths of more than 35,000 people since the early 1980s when the PKK began its fight for independence or autonomy for the mainly Kurdish-populated south-east of Turkey.

The PKK is considered by the United States and the European Union to be a terrorist group. (dpa)