Three Turkish soldiers, 5 rebels killed in clashes

TUNCELI, Turkey, Aug 1 (Reuters) Three Turkish soldiers and five separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas were killed in clashes in eastern Turkey today, army sources said.

Five soldiers were also injured in the clashes in the eastern province of Tunceli, said the sources, who did not wish to be named.

Dozens of soldiers have been killed this year in an escalation of violence in Turkey's east and southeast, which has prompted calls from the army for a cross-border incursion into northern Iraq to deal with rebels based there.

The AK Party government, re-elected last month, has resisted the powerful army's calls, but has also refused to rule out a move into northern Iraq.

Ankara has raised troop levels in the border region as part of a crackdown on the PKK, which has been fighting for an ethnic Kurdish homeland since 1984.

REUTERS AK BST0330