Thirteen Turkish soldiers were killed Sunday in an attack by PKK

Ankara estimates that there are thousands of PKK rebels who are supported or tolerated by Iraqi Kurds.

Twelve people were killed at the end of September after a minibus was machine-gunned in Sirnak province, the PKK's bloodiest attack in Turkey in recent years.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community, has waged a bloody campaign for self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish east and southeast since 1984. The conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives.

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