8 PKK militants killed in eastern Turkey

Turkish security forces killed eight militants from the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in eastern Turkey on Sunday, according to state-run Anadolu Agency. 

Security forces were searching for another militant who was believed to be on the run after the operation, the governor of the eastern Kars Province, Rahmi Dogan, said on Sunday. 

"Eight terrorists were killed and the security forces are searching for another terrorist who is on the run," he said.

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 PKK insurgency began in 1984.

Next door in Syria, the battle to displace the Islamic State (IS) group from their de facto capital, Raqqa, is being led by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. The SDF coalition includes the Kurdish Democratic Union Party's militia, the YPG, which is affiliated with the PKK.

US President Donald Trump recently approved a proposal to give arms to Kurdish militias like the YPG to fight IS in Syria. 

This has created further rifts between Washington and Turkish officials in Ankara who has pushed the Trump administration to cancel plans to give arms to the YPG. 

The PKK has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 during which over 40,000 people have been killed.

The group is designated by Ankara, the United States and the European Union as a terror group.