The clashes between the Turkish troops and a group of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels broke out in a rural area in the province of Bingol's Genc district, Bingol governor Mustafa Hakan said.

Violence between the Turkish military and the PKK has escalated lately.

Turkish aircrafts have repeatedly bombed the bases of the PKK in northern Iraq since August 17, and more than a 100 rebels have been killed in the raids, according to official figures.

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