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Three killed in fresh violence in southeast Turkey

ANKARA, Aug 18, 2007 (AFP) - A Turkish soldier and two Kurdish rebels were killed in a clash in Hakkari province in the restive southeast of the country, the local governor's office said in a statement Saturday.

Three soldiers were also wounded slightly in the fighting which erupted late Friday during a security sweep against Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels in a mountainous region of the province which borders Iran and Iraq, said the statement carried by the Anatolia news agency.

The PKK, outlawed by Turkey and most of the international community, has been fighting for self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast since 1984 in a bloody conflict that has claimed more than 37,000 lives.

The group has notably stepped up its attacks this year and, in response, the army has launched a large-scale crackdown against the rebels and amassed troops on the border with Iraq, where the PKK takes refuge.