Fighting erupted between soldiers on patrol and rebels from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in a rural area of the province of Agri, which borders Iran, the report quoted local governor Mehmet Cetin as saying.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, has waged a 24-year armed campaign for self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast in a conflict that has claimed some 44,000 lives.

Ankara charges that the rebels use neighbouring northern Iraq as a springboard for attacks in Turkish territory and Turkish planes have carried out several strikes on rebel bases across the border.