Two soldiers were also wounded in the fighting that began early Tuesday on Mount Kupeli, in Sirnak province, in a military operation against rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a statement on the general staff Internet site said.

Local security sources had earlier reported clashes on Mount Gabar, which is close to Kupeli.

The army statement said troops were sweeping the area after the battle that lasted for more than 90 minutes.

"Other units are blocking the likely escape routes of the terrorists", it said, referring to the PKK.

The statement gave no figures for PKK losses, saying troops were still sweeping the zone for bodies.

The NTV news channel reported heavy PKK losses.

Turkey has massed an estimated 100,000 troops on its border with Iraq as it threatens cross-border military strikes against PKK bases in northern Iraq where it says the rebels enjoy a safe haven.

Pressure for a cross-border operation increased after October 21 when PKK rebels ambushed a Turkish military unit near the Iraqi border, killing 12, injuring 17 and capturing eight.

Last week, US President George W. Bush promised Turkey real time intelligence to strike at the PKK after talks at the White House with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

A Kurdish official in northern Iraq told AFP that Turkish warplanes on Tuesday bombed three Iraqi villages near the border town of Zakho known to be frequented by PKK rebels. There were no casualties, he said.

More than 37,000 people have been killed since 1984 when the PKK, listed as a terrorist group by much of the international community, took up arms for self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.