DIYARBAKIR: The Turkish authorities Wednesday partially lifted a curfew in an area of Diyarbakir, the main city in the country's Kurdish-dominated southeast which has seen heavy clashes in recent weeks between rebels and security forces.
As soon as the move was announced, hundreds of people fled Sur district where they had been trapped, carrying possessions such as carpets, mattresses and electrical goods, an AFP journalist saw.
The authorities lifted the curfew -- imposed on December 9 -- in nine areas of Sur on Wednesday, but it remains in force in six others.
The Turkish police and army have been carrying out a major operation in the narrow streets of Sur aimed at retaking control of areas seized by armed activists from the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), who have dug trenches and erected barricades.
Violent clashes are still going on, with numerous deaths among security forces and PKK fighters. Dozens of civilians have also been killed, according to the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).
Campaign groups say the clashes have caused major damage and forced nearly 50,000 people in Sur from their homes since the start of December. Up to 70,000 people were living in the area before the violence erupted.
Violence flared last summer between Kurdish rebels and government forces after a deadly bombing in a Kurdish majority town, shattering a 2013 ceasefire reached after secret talks between PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan and Ankara.
Over 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK took up arms in 1984 demanding an independent state for Kurds. Since then the group has narrowed its demands to greater autonomy and cultural rights.
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