They said rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) late Friday attacked a police post near the town of Cukurca, near the Iraqi border, killing two soldiers and wounding two others.

In another incident early Saturday three soldiers, including an officer, died when rebels detonated a landmine near a police post outside of the town of Guclukonak, near the Syrian border, the sources said.

A sixth soldier was shot dead Saturday while patrolling near Saray close to the Iranian border. He was killed by shots that came from over the border in Iran, the local governor said, cited by the Anatolia news agency.

Ankara, the European Union and the United States all classify the PKK as a terrorist organisation.

Clashes between security forces and PKK rebels have intensified this year with at least 98 rebels and 72 soldiers killed, according to an AFP count.

More than 37,000 lives have been lost in the Kurdish insurrection which began in 1984 with Kurdish demands for independence for the southeastern and heavily Kurdish Anatolia region.