The rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) died in clashes in the mountainous area of Senyayla in the remote province of Mus, said the source in Diyarbakir, capital of the mainly Kurdish southeastern part of Anatolia.

Conflict in the region has killed 37,000 people since the PKK -- considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union -- began a war for Kurdish independence in 1984.