Nine Killed in Clashes between Turkish Forces and Kurdish Rebels

Six members of Turkish security forces and three Kurdish rebels were killed in renewed clashes in Turkey's southeast, security officials and local authorities said Saturday.

Three special police force members and three militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were killed when the rebels ambushed a patrol on a highway late Friday in Hakkari province, according to security sources.

Three village guards were killed and three wounded in separate fighting overnight when PKK members attacked a military post in Bitlis province, according to the governor's office.

Village guards are militia units usually made up of ethnic Kurds armed by the Turkish state to provide support in combating the PKK, considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and its allies.

About 45,000 people have been killed since the PKK took up arms for autonomy in Kurdish-majority southeastern Turkey in 1984.