The soldiers died late Sunday when fighting erupted during a security operation against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on Mount Cudi in Sirnak province, the general staff said on its Internet site.

Four PKK militants were shot dead Monday in a separate operation in the Incebel mountains and in Sirnak, the statement. Turkish soldiers had killed four other rebels in the same area last week, it added.

The PKK, which is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and several Western countries, has been fighting for self-rule in Turkey's Kurdish-populated east and southeast since 1984. The conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives.

Turkey has stepped up military action against the group since December, carrying out air strikes plus a week-long ground incursion into northern Iraq, where it says more than 2,000 PKK rebels have taken refuge.