The fighting comes two weeks after Turkey ended a week-long ground offensive into neighbouring northern Iraq to hunt Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels waging a separatist campaign against Ankara.

The general staff said in a statement on its Internet site that clashes erupted Wednesday and Thursday in the mountainous Bestler-Dereler region of Sirnak province.

"We will pursue operations against the separatist terrorist organization with determination in all weather and terrain conditions," the statement added.

Since mid-December, Turkey has carried out five air strikes and a ground offensive into northern Iraq where it says more than 2,000 PKK rebels have found refuge.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, 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.