Fighting erupted early in the day between Kurdistan Workers' Party rebels and soldiers on a security sweep in Tunceli province, a region that has recently seen heavy fighting, the sources said.

On Thursday, three rebels were killed in the same province.

Since last month, the army has been conducting large-scale operations in the east and southeast of the country to hunt down the rebels as the arrival of spring allows them easier movement in the region.

More than 37,000 people have been killed since the rebel movement, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, took up arms in 1984 for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish east and southeast of the country.