Two militants of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) were killed in a military operation staged by the Turkish security forces in southern Turkey, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported on Sunday.

The report said that the two militants were shot dead as Turkish security forces exchanged fire with a group of PKK militants during the operation at Hacilar village in Hassa town of Hatay province.

It added that the operation in pursuit of the PKK members in the region is continuing after the armed clash.

The security forces have launched large-scale operations against PKK since the beginning of this spring, when the harsh climate there turned to mild and was in favor of the military operations.

PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, NATO and the European Union, launched an armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in the mainly Kurdish southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking decades of strife that has claimed more than 30,000 lives.

The intensity of the fighting eased after PKK leader AbdullahOcalan was captured and imprisoned in 1999, but fighting has flared up again in recent years.

Source: Xinhua