ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish warplanes struck Kurdish militant targets in two areas of southeast Turkey overnight, killing 11 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters, the army said on Tuesday.

One air operation was conducted near the Syrian border, in the Dargecit district of Mardin province, where warplanes destroyed two gun positions and killed eight militants believed to be preparing for an attack, the army said in a statement.

It said three other PKK members were killed and a cave destroyed in air strikes in the countryside of Hakkari province, which borders Iraq and Iran.

The PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984 and more than 40,000 people, mostly Kurds, have been killed in the conflict. It is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

A ceasefire between the Turkish state and the militants broke down in July 2015 and the southeast subsequently saw some of the worst violence since the insurgency began.