Fighter jets from an air force base at Diyarbakir, the main city in the mainly Kurdish southeast, bombed and destroyed several Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) positions, the agency reported.

The bombing targeted PKK routes particularly in high mountainous areas, it said.

The raids were conducted in four provinces -- Sirnak and Hakkari, which border Iraq and neighbouring Siirt and Van, which abuts the Iranian border.

Helicopter gunships also took part in the raids that followed the killing of 12 soldiers in a PKK ambush near the Iraqi border on Sunday.

The army said eight soldiers were missing after the ambush. The PKK says it captured the soldiers and on Tuesday released pictures it said were the soldiers.

The military said 34 PKK militants were killed in operations since Sunday's attack, which increased pressure on Ankara for a military incursion into northern Iraq, where the rebels take refuge.

In the eastern province of Tunceli, suspected PKK militants Wednesday detonated two remote-controlled bombs as soldiers combed a rural area for landmines, which the rebels frequently use against security forces, Anatolia said. There were no casualties.

Security forces defused other explosive devices they found in the area, the report said.

An operation against the PKK, backed by air cover, is under way in Tunceli, it said.