The rebels, members of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), were shot dead while planting a landmine on a road in the eastern province of Tunceli late Wednesday, the sources said.

In neighbouring Bingol, PKK militants killed a village guard, or a member of a local government-armed militia supporting the army in the fight against the PKK, the sources said.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by Ankara and much of the international community, notably stepped up violence this year.

The army has launched a large-scale crackdown against the group in the east and southeast of the country and amassed troops on the border with Iraq, where the militants take refuge.

The PKK took up arms for self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish east and southeast in 1984. The conflict has claimed some 37,000 lives.