Turkey's military said on Monday that 41 militants of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) and two Turkish troops were killed in the latest fighting.

In a statement posted on its Web site on Monday, the General Staff said that Monday's clashes have brought the guerrilla death toll to 153 since the beginning of the cross-border operations.

The General Staff added that two Turkish soldiers were also killed in Monday's clashes, and fierce clashes with terrorists continue in two separate locations.

According to the Turkish General Staff, a group of Turkish troops returned to Turkey and have been replaced by new groups of Turkish soldiers.

Turkish air force conducted night flights to locate the areas where PKK terrorists are running away from, said the General Staff.

The PKK, listed by the United States and Turkey as a terrorist group, took up arms against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in the southeast of the country. More than 30,000 people have been killed in the over-two-decade conflict.

(Xinhua News Agency February 26, 2008)