The Turkish Air Forces carried out three air-and-ground operations on Friday against PKK positions in southeastern Hakkari province, after the military received intelligence on the terrorists' whereabouts.

In the operations carried out in Çukurca district bordering Iraq, two PKK hide-outs were hit by warplanes and 33 PKK terrorists were killed in clashes. 30 terrorists were also wounded.

Meanwhile on early Saturday, seven soldiers were killed and 21 others were injured in an armed clash with the terrorists. The wounded soldiers, including three in critical condition, were brought to Hakkari city center with helicopters and transferred to Hakkari State Hospital for treatment.

The Turkish General Staff said in a statement on Friday that warplanes carried out airstrikes in a rural area of Çukurca between 8.30 a.m. (0530GMT) and 2.20 p.m. (1120GMT), hitting five DShK [anti-aircraft gun] positions.

The army said in a statement on Saturday that an airborne operation between 10:17 a.m. and 1:46 p.m. on Sept 3 was also launched in the region, with about a 100 terrrorists out of a group of 150 killed in clashes, and the remaining retreating back to northern Iraq.

The statement added that the Sept. 3 operation has been the biggest blow to PKK terrorists in recent years.

Before the operations, a PKK bomb attack had hit the southeastern province of Diyarbakır and injured one soldier.

A roadside bomb planted by the terrorists hit a passing military vehicle in the district of Silvan.

The explosion followed violence in the Çukurca district of Hakkari in which one soldier was killed and six others were injured during an air-and-ground operation against the PKK early Friday. Twenty PKK terrorists were also killed in the operation.

The PKK – who are listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and EU - resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015. Since then, more than 600 security personnel and more than 7,000 PKK terrorists have been killed.