DIYARBAKIR (Reuters) - Two Turkish soldiers were killed on Monday after clashing with Kurdish militants in the eastern province of Tunceli, sources said.

The soldiers were conducting an operation in the region when they were attacked and wounded by members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), military sources said. They later died in hospital despite treatment, hospital officials said.

The outlawed PKK has repeatedly targeted security forces, especially in the country’s southeast, since abandoning a 2-1/2-year ceasefire in July 2015.

Some 49 PKK militants have been killed or captured in operations over the past week, the Interior Ministry said on Monday, adding that 269 people suspected of aiding and financing the militant group had been detained.

More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict since the autonomy-seeking PKK took up arms in 1984. It is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.