Turkish news agencies say Turkish troops killed as many as 20 Kurdish rebels Monday in a military strike in the southeast.

Helicopters backed-up soldiers on the ground in the operation in Diyarbakir province. One report says Turkish forces discovered the rebels through information taken from a dead Kurdish rebel's cellphone.

The Kurdistan Workers Party has waged a nearly 20-year fight for more Kurdish autonomy in Turkey. That fighting has killed tens of thousands.

Turkey, the European Union and United States regard the PKK as a terrorist group.