At least 19 people have been killed after Kurdish rebels launched an attack on a Turkish military post near the south-eastern border with Iraq, according to local media reports.
Media reports quoted Hakkari province's Governor Orhan Alimoglu as saying that the targeted outpost was located in the village of Gecimili. He said the dead included six soldiers, two village guards and 11 Kurdish rebels.
Reports said at least 15 Turkish soldiers were injured in the fighting. Turkish military jets are currently pursuing the retreating militants and bombing their escape routes. The development came as the Turkish military was in the midst of an anti-militant offensive in the region.
Turkish Interior Ministry claims that at least 115 Kurdish militants have been killed in the offensive near the town of Semdinli in Hakkari province over the past two weeks. He added that the military has taken steps to prevent the militants who attacked the outpost from escaping to northern Iraq.
In recent years, Turkey has witnessed several such cross-border attacks carried out by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels based in northern Iraq. Ankara responded to those attacks by launching massive military operations along its border with Iraq and carrying out numerous air strikes on PKK bases in northern Iraq.
Turkey began launching the cross-border air raids on PKK bases in Iraq after the Kurdish rebels carried out a deadly attack on a border outpost in south-eastern Turkey in October 2007, killing 15 soldiers and injuring 20 others.
The PKK, a militant Kurdish separatist group, began an armed struggle in 1984 for the establishment of an ethnic homeland in south-east Turkey. They have since carried out several attacks inside Turkey, including cross-border raids from their stronghold in northern Iraq.
An estimated 37,000 people have died in the two-decade-long violence unleashed by the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by most of the international community including the United States and the European Union.
Early last year, the Kurdish separatist group announced its intention to end the unilateral truce declared in August 2010. However, PKK leaders recently pledged not to target civilians in future attacks.
Nevertheless, Turkish government has initiated efforts aimed at improving the rights of the country's Kurdish minority for ending the armed separatist movement. An end to the Kurdish uprising is expected to help Turkey secure the much-coveted EU membership.
Reforms planned by Ankara provides more rights to the 12 million-strong Kurdish minority in Turkey's south-east, and includes constitutional reforms, the right to teach the Kurdish language in public universities and greater concessions to Kurdish culture.
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Market Analysis
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.