Turkish forces, acting on a tip-off, raided the Kurdish rebel's house in Nusaybin town on the border with neighbouring Syria and killed him during a shootout when he refused to heed their call to surrender, the sources added.

The rebel was not yet identified.

The PKK is labelled as a terrorist organisation by Turkey and much of the international community.

About 45,000 people have been killed since the party took up arms for autonomy in southeastern Turkey in 1984.

The latest incident comes after three Kurdish women activists including PKK's co-founder Sakine Cansiz were killed in Paris on Thursday amid peace talks between Ankara and the jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the slayings could be the result of an internal feud within the PKK or an attempt to sabotage the peace talks.