Turkish troops kill 8 Kurdish rebels in SE Turkey

ISTANBUL, Aug 29 (Reuters) Turkish soldiers killed eight Kurdish guerrillas in a clash in the southeastern province of Siirt today, state-run Anatolian news agency said.

It quoted a statement from the provincial governor's office as saying the clash with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants came during an operation in the region, supported by a state-sponsored village guard militia.

The operation was launched based on the confessions of a PKK fighter who had surrendered to the armed forces, the statement said.

It said one village guard was slightly injured in the clash.

The PKK took up arms against the state in 1984 with the aim of carving out an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey. More than 30,000 people have died in the conflict, which subsided after the capture of the group's leader Abdullah Ocalan in 1999.

However, fighting has flared up again in the last couple of years with large numbers of the militants crossing the border from northern Iraq, where they are holed up in mountain bases.

Reuters RKM VP0025