Ankara  - Eleven Kurdish guerrillas were killed by Turkish soldiers in the eastern Turkey province of Tunceli on Thursday, Turkish media reported.

The eleven rebels from the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) were killed after security forces launched operations after finding a number of roadside bombs on Wednesday on a road linking Tunceli with Erzurum.

One PKK guerrilla was injured in the fighting, NTV reported.

Turkish troops have been carrying out operations inside Turkey following the ending six weeks ago of "Operation Gunes" which saw up to 10,000 soldiers sent across the border into Iraq to seek out Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) rebels and their camps.

Ankara blames the separatist group for the deaths of more than 32,000 people since the early 1980s when the PKK began its fight for independence or autonomy for the mainly Kurdish-populated south-east of Turkey.

The PKK is listed by the United States and the European Union as a terrorist group. (dpa)