This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Turkish military operations in the south-east have killed 115 Kurdish rebels since 15 December, a state-run news agency has reported.

Most of the casualties were centred in the Şırnak Province towns of Cizre and Silopi, both under 24-hour curfew, with 98 rebels killed, the Anadolu Agency reported. Other casualties occurred in the provinces of Mardin and Diyarbakır.

Turkey’s government says militants linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) have placed explosive devices, dug trenches and set up barricades in these areas. Turkey has vowed to press ahead with the operations until the region is clear of rebels.

On Monday, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the operations would continue and vowed that the “terrorist organisation” along with its supporters “will be buried in the trenches they have dug”.

In Cizre, the flashpoint of operations, columns of smoke rose from residential areas as a military helicopters and armoured vehicle scoured the area. The sound of heavy gunfire and sporadic shelling echoed in the streets, according to residents.

In the eastern province of Bitlis, two soldiers were killed and another six were wounded in a roadside bombing, according to Anadolu. The agency said more than 200 soldiers have been killed since the collapse of a two-year ceasefire in July.

Fighting between Turkish security forces and the PKK, including its youth wing, has increasingly focused in urban centres, displacing thousands of residents from the south east.

The escalating violence has dashed hopes for the resumption of peace talks between the state and the PKK, which have fought a three-decade conflict that has killed more than 30,000. The latest violence reminds many here of the worst bloodshed of the 1990s.