Three soldiers were killed in the fighting with members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) during an operation in a rural area near the town of Dortyol in Hatay province, the provincial governor's office said, Anatolia reported.

A massive operation has been launched to locate the rebels, it added.

One soldier was killed and another was injured in another attack carried out by PKK members targeting a military unit near the town of Semdinli in Hakkari province, said Anatolia.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey and by much of the international community, took up arms in Kurdish-majority southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000 lives.

Fighting usually escalates in spring as snow melts along the mountainous Iraqi-Turkish border, enabling rebels holed up in rough terrain to launch attacks more easily.