Kurdish militants killed five Turkish village guards in a clash in southeast Turkey overnight, military sources said on Saturday.
They said Kurdistan Workers Party members opened fire on the state-sponsored militia as they embarked on a patrol in the mountainous province of Sirnak, along the border with Iraq, on Friday.
Turkish military forces backed by helicopters subsequently launched an operation in the area in search of the militants, reported WorldBulletin.
This year the military has carried out repeated air raids targeting PKK fighters based in northern Iraq, from where several thousand militants stage attacks on Turkish territory.