Turkish troops killed three Kurdish rebels in separate clashes in rural areas of southeastern Turkey, officials and news reports said Monday. Two rebels were killed in fighting near the town of Lice, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported. The town is in Diyarbakir province, a majority Kurdish area where battles between Turkish soldiers and rebels of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, are common. The agency did not say when the clashes took place or give any details. Authorities in Lice were not immediately available to confirm the report. The governor's office in nearby Bingol province said another rebel was killed when troops fought guerrillas in a rural area near the town of Genc on Monday.
