9 rebels, 3 soldiers killed amid clashes in southeast Turkey

Ankara: Clashes between Turkish troops and Kurdish rebels left nine rebels and three soldiers dead in Turkey's southeast, the military said Tuesday.

The fighting on Monday in the province of Sirnak, which borders Iraq, also left five soldiers wounded, the military said in a statement. Earlier, the private Dogan news agency reported that 10 soldiers were wounded.

Turkey is fighting the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which uses bases in the north of neighboring Iraq to launch attacks against targets inside Turkey. Turkey, like the European Union and the United States, considers the PKK a terrorist organization.

The fighting followed an attack by Turkish artillery units and warplanes on Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq late last week that Turkey's military said killed at least 15 rebels.

Saturday's statement confirmed the first cross-border action by the military since its eight-day ground incursion that ended February 29. The US has been sharing intelligence on the rebels with NATO-ally Turkey since November.