Turkey suicide bombing
A police officer secures the scene of an explosion where a suspected suicide bomber targeted a wedding celebration in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, Turkey, Aug. 21, 2016. REUTERS/Osman Orsal

Eight members of Turkey's security forces and 11 militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were killed in clashes overnight in southeast Turkey, security sources said on Saturday.

The fighting, in Van province near the border with Iran, followed a day of violence across the largely Kurdish southeast in which 27 PKK militants and at least seven security force members were killed.

Southeastern Turkey has been hit by waves of violence since the collapse of a 2-1/2-year ceasefire between the Turkish state and the autonomy-seeking PKK in July 2015.

An air operation was continuing in the region on Saturday following the overnight clashes, state-run Anadolu Agency said, citing the local governor.

Some 40,000 people, most of them Kurds, have been killed since the PKK first took up arms against the state three decades ago. The group is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.

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