DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkish F-16 warplanes launched air strikes on Kurdish militants in southeast Turkey on Wednesday, killing eight of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters, a provincial governor’s office said.

PKK militants had opened fire on Turkish soldiers at a military outpost near the Iraqi border in the mountainous Cukurca area, triggering a clash between the two sides, the Hakkari governor’s office said in a statement.

It said the Turkish military had sent a drone to the area which located the militants, before the F-16 jets carried out their strikes. One Turkish soldier was wounded in the clash and taken to hospital for treatment.

More than 40,000 people have been killed in the PKK’s insurgency, launched against the Turkish state in 1984. Turkey, the United States and European Union have designated the PKK a terrorist group.

Since the collapse of a two-year ceasefire in July 2015 the mainly Kurdish southeast has suffered some of the worst violence since the conflict began.