The fighting erupted when rebels from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) launched an attack on soldiers close to a military outpost near the village of Daglica, in Hakkari province, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A soldier was also wounded in the fighting.

In October 2007, Daglica, nestled among mountains, was the scene of one of the bloodiest PKK attacks in which the rebels ambushed a patrol, killing 12 Turkish soldiers and wounding 17 others.

The attack caused nationwide outrage and turned up pressure on the government to take military action to destroy PKK hideouts in northern Iraq.

Four months later, the army crossed the border for a week-long offensive in which, it said, at least 240 militants were killed and dozens of PKK bases destroyed.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, took up arms against the government in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed about 45,000 lives.

The arrival of spring usually brings a resurgence of violence as the rebels move out from their mountain hideouts in Turkey and neighbouring Iraq when the snow melts.