(VOVworld) – Many Turkish soldiers were killed and injured in clashes with rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Hakkari on Sunday.

According to the Hurriyet daily, after attacking armored vehicles with land mines, Kurdish rebels continued firing, killing at least 16 soldiers. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the military confirmed the attack but not the number of casualties. The Turkish Air Force launched air strikes on a PKK base in the northeast, killing a number of fighters.