Over 670 Kurdish rebels killed in Turkey this year

ANKARA, December 11 (RIA Novosti) - At least 670 Kurdish militants have been killed by Turkish forces in counter-terrorism operations this year, the country's General Staff said on Thursday.

The largest numbers of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) separatists were killed in February and May - 250 and 179, respectively - mostly in the course of Turkish army air raids in northern Iraq, where PKK camps are based.

The Turkish military said over 300 acts of violence had been prevented by army units as part of counterterrorism operations in the southeast of the country, and about 500 kilograms of explosives, 55 antipersonnel mines, and an assortment of weapons and ammunition were seized.

The PKK, considered a terrorist organization by the EU, the U.S. and many other countries, has been fighting for an autonomous ethnic Kurd state in southeast Turkey for nearly 25 years. The conflict has claimed over 40,000 lives.