On Tuesday, the army said the fighting in the mountains of Sirnak province left three soldiers dead and five wounded.

Since last year, Turkey has stepped up action against the PKK and carried out several air strikes and a week-long ground incursion into northern Iraq where it says more than 2,000 PKK rebels are based.

The army said Saturday that at least 15 PKK members were killed in cross-border air and artillery attacks.

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