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ANKARA, TURKEY: Turkish security forces killed ten Kurdish militants during ground and air operations in south eastern Turkey on Tuesday, the military said, days after the insurgents called a unilateral ceasefire.
The outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) ordered its forces on Saturday to halt all actions in Turkey, following a bomb blast that killed 97 people at a peace rally in Ankara. The government dismissed the truce declaration as a ploy ahead of November polls that will be contested by a pro-Kurdish party.
Three militants were killed in clashes during an operation by the military in Hakkari province, close to Turkey's Iran and Iraq borders, the military said in a statement on Wednesday. Seven more were killed in subsequent air strikes.
Security sources said Turkish F-16 jets launched further air strikes against Kurdish positions.
The conflict has surged in ferocity since a two year ceasefire collapsed in July, leaving long-term peace negotiations in tatters. Turkey is due to hold elections on Nov. 1 that could further exacerbate tensions over security.
It remains unclear who carried out the Ankara bombing, at a rally attended predominantly by pro-Kurdish groups.
On Wednesday Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said both the PKK and Islamic State could have played a role in the bombing, despite the two groups being involved in fierce combat against each other in neighbouring Syria.
The PKK, deemed by the United States and the EU as a terrorist organisation, has been fighting an insurgency since 1984, demanding greater Turkish autonomy in the southeast of the country. Some 40,000 have been killed in fighting.
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