Three soldiers martyred in southeastern Turkey

MARDIN, Turkey

Three Turkish soldiers were martyred during a clash with PKK terrorists in the southeastern Mardin province early Thursday, the Turkish military announced.

The Turkish General Staff said in a statement that three soldiers were martyred and eight PKK terrorists were killed in a counter-terrorism operation in Mardin’s Dargecit district.

The General Staff also conveyed its condolences to the families and relatives of the martyred soldiers.

The operation is still underway.

Turkey's southeast has been the scene of significant military operations since December against the PKK -- designated as a terrorist organization also by the U.S., and the EU -- which renewed its armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015.

Since then, more than 280 security forces personnel have been martyred and thousands of PKK terrorists killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq.