Eight Turkish troops killed

Eight members of the Turkish security forces were killed in clashes with Kurdish militants on Thursday in Turkey's restive southeast, the army said. Six soldiers and two military security guards died while two soldiers were wounded - one heavily - after fighting broke out in the Semdinli district of Hakkari province that borders Iraq, the armed forces said in a statement.
The military reported it had killed five members of the "separatist terror organisation", Turkey's official term for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). It was not possible to independently verify the toll. The armed forces said the militants were "trying to benefit from the heavy fog and bad weather conditions" to launch an attack.