The death toll from the clash in the countryside in Siirt province included seven soldiers and one member of the so-called village guard, a government-paid Kurdish militia supporting the army against the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), local officials told Anatolia.

The incident follows the death of five soldiers Thursday in a landmine explosion, blamed on the PKK, on a rural road in Bitlis province.

The PKK, listed as terrorist group by Turkey, the European Union and the United States, has fought for Kurdish self-rule in the southeast since 1984 in a conflict that has claimed more than 37,000 lives.

Clashes in the region have been on the rise since 2004 when the PKK called off a five-year unilateral ceasefire.

At least 84 rebels and 49 members of the security forces, including Sunday's toll, have been killed this year, according to an AFP count.

Kurdish militants have also claimed 11 blasts in urban centers, in which nine people were killed and nearly 140 others injured.