Turkey sends in cleansing troops to Kurdish majority town

Libyan News and Other Agencies

Explosions and gunfire resounded around the southeastern Turkish town of Cizre on Friday after a clash overnight that the army said killed six Kurdish fighters and one soldier, as a security operation there entered its 11th day.

Since a two-year ceasefire between Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Turkey fell apart in July, the mainly Kurdish southeast has been plunged back into a three-decades-old conflict which has killed more than 40,000 people.

A helicopter clattered overhead and armored vehicles sped along a hilltop road above Cizre, near the Syrian border, as security forces pressed on with a campaign across the region involving thousands of troops, backed by tanks.

Smoke billowed from buildings hit by blasts, while streets were empty and shops shuttered.