Security forces on Friday have killed 12 PKK terrorists in Cizre district, in southeastern Şırnak province, Turkish military has said.

The government has intensified its counterterrorism operations following the recent attacks carried out by the PKK, which is recognized as a terrorist organization by the U.S., the EU and Turkey. Formed in 1978, the terrorist group has been fighting the government for an independent state since the early 2000's. The group then shifted its goal to autonomy in predominately Kurdish inhabited regions of Turkey. The PKK announced on July 11 that the cease-fire that was declared via a message from the PKK's imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan in 2013 has ended.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu have underscored that Turkey will continue to carry out anti-terrorism operations until all terrorists are eliminated.

Struggling to contain a campaign of terror by the PKK, Turkey also faces the grim task of compensating victims of terrorism in eastern and southeastern Turkey. The latest figures show the country paid TL 470 million ($16.14 million) to some 30,000 people in the past decade in three cities plagued by terrorism. Compensation was paid to residents of Van, Bitlis and Muş in the east where terrorists have launched attacks and where supporters of the PKK have vandalized countless properties in riots. The sum paid covers houses, businesses, cars and lands owned by individuals damaged or demolished in the PKK attacks as well as families who lost their members in attacks or were abducted by the terrorist organization.