Kurdish PKK rebels 'killed in south-east Turkey clash'

The PKK has been active for nearly 30 years

Twelve PKK Kurdish separatist rebels and a soldier have been reported killed in a clash at an outpost in south-eastern Turkey.

Turkish sources say the rebels opened fire on the gendarmerie outpost in Hakkari province, using thick fog and heavy snowfall as cover.

Turkish forces returned fire with mortars. There was no immediate comment from Kurdish sources.

Last year saw some of the heaviest fighting with the PKK in decades.

The group, regarded by the US and EU as a terrorist organisation, launched an armed campaign for an ethnic Kurdish homeland in south-east Turkey in 1984.

Since then more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.