Turkish military says it killed 20 PKK fighters

TUNCELI, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkish military sources said at least 20 Kurdish separatists and two Turkish soldiers were killed after Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas attacked a military base in southeast Turkey late on Friday.

Turkish warplanes bombed rural areas along Turkey's border with Iraq after some 50 PKK members from northern Iraq attacked a gendarme station near the border, killing two soldiers.

The bombings killed 20 militants, the military sources said. No further details were available.

Earlier in the day three people were killed and a dozen injured in a series of explosions in the region blamed on the Kurdish separatist guerrillas.

The three landmine blasts, set off by remote control, were in the southeastern provinces of Siirt and Batman and in eastern Bingol province, said security sources, who declined to be named.

The violence comes amid an ongoing military operation, backed by attack helicopters, tanks and artillery against separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas in the restive and mountainous parts of southeast Turkey.

Amid widespread public anger over PKK attacks, Turkey has sent tens of thousands of troops to the border region. Over the week dozens of Turkish F-16 warplanes have also gone on bombing raids against suspected PKK positions deep inside neighbouring northern Iraq.

Turkey blames the PKK for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, mostly Kurds, since the group began its armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984.

President Abdullah Gul said on Friday the military's latest air strikes against the rebels in northern Iraq were among the most significant blows yet against the separatist movement.