July 13, 2016 - 12:40 AM
ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey's prime minister says the security forces have largely wiped out Kurdish militants from the country's urban areas.
In a speech to officials of his ruling party, Binali Yildirim said Wednesday the security forces would continue to hunt down the rebels in rural areas "until there no longer are any incidents of terrorism."
A fragile, 2 1/2-year cease-fire between the Turkish state and Kurdish militants unraveled last year, plunging the southeast region into renewed violence.
Turkey imposed round-the-clock curfews in several towns and urban districts in the mainly Kurdish southeast region to root out militants linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK.
A leading human rights group said this week that the government is preventing independent investigations of alleged mass abuses against civilians during the operations.
News from © The Associated Press, 2016