Four rebels of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) were killed in an armed clash with the Turkish security forces in southeastern Turkey on Saturday, provincial official said in a statement.

A group of PKK militants and the Turkish security forces exchanged fire near Aktutun village in Semdinli town of Hakkari province on Saturday morning, killing four PKK militants including two female, as well as a Turkish soldier, according to the statement issued by Hakkari Governor's office.

The PKK, which took up arms in 1984 in order to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey, announced last week a ceasefire from Aug. 13 to Sept. 20 for the holy Islamic month of Ramadan.

Turkey's National Security Council (MGK) said in a statement after a six-hour meeting in Istanbul on Thursday "we have emphasized the strong belief that our nation will continue to behave with common sense and not allow the PKK to attain their wicked objectives by bringing disorder, weakening the unity of the people or damaging social peace."

Some 40,000 people have been killed in conflicts involving the PKK for the past two decades. The Turkish military has launched frequent operations to eradicate PKK militants in the country's southeast and east, and conducted air strikes against PKK bases in northern Iraq.