Turkey foils 'Kurdish militant raid' on police station

Turkish authorities said it killed a Kurdish "terrorist" on Sunday, following clashes that erupted in the tense south-eastern region of the country.

An anonymous security source said two militants attacked a police station in the Ataturk neighbourhood of the Sirnak province before being shot by police. One succumbed to his wounds while the other was left injured.

Turkey has seen a spate of deadly bombings in a bloody 2016 blamed both on the outlawed-Kurdish PKK group as well as Islamic State group militants have left dozens dead and put the country on daily alert.

On Saturday, 13 Turkish soldiers were killed and dozens more wounded in a car bombing targeting off-duty conscripts being taken by bus on a weekend shopping trip.

The government at the time said all signs suggested the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party [PKK] was behind the attack.

A week earlier, a double bombing conducted by the Kurdish militants killed 44 people in Istanbul after a football match.

Kurdish militants have twice struck with bombings that killed dozens in Ankara in February and March.

The attacks have come with the civil war still raging in neighbouring Syria, where Turkey is staging its own incursion to force IS-linked militants and Kurdish militias from the border area. 

Turkey is also still reeling from a failed 15 July coup blamed on the US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen that has been followed by a relentless purge of his alleged supporters from all state institutions.

The Turkish military has stepped up operations against the PKK after a fragile ceasefire broke down in the summer of 2015. Since then, there has been a dramatic surge in violence that shows no sign of ending.

The attacks prompted a sharp response from Erdogan, who vowed Ankara would "fight the scourge of terrorism right to the end".

"They should know that they will not get away with it... They will pay a heavier price."

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US, and EU but is accepted by the UN.

More than 300 civilians and nearly 850 security personnel have been killed since the group resumed its offensive in July 2015.