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DIYARBAKIR, (Turkey), Dec 9 (AFP): Four Turkish soldiers were killed Friday in fighting during a military operation against separatist Kurdish rebels in the mainly Kurdish southeast of the country, officials said.
The clash occurred in the province of Sirnak, which borders Iraq and Syria, Education Minister Huseyin Celik, who was visiting the region, was quoted as saying by Anatolia news agency.
Local officials said the fighting erupted in a rural area near the town of Guclukonak during a sweep which began Thursday against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Unrest in the southeast has risen noticeably this year after the PKK, which is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the European Union and the United States, called off a five-year unilateral ceasefire in June 2004.
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