Twelve dead in clashes in Turkey's southeast

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Aug 25 (Reuters) Ten separatist Kurdish guerrillas and two Turkish soldiers were killed in clashes in southeastern Turkey, army sources said today.

One Turkish soldier was also wounded in the clashes, which have been going on in southeastern Sirnak province for the last three days near the border with Iraq.

Army sources said more militants of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), based in northern Iraq, were trying to cross the border and that the army has reinforced its positions there.

The PKK is fighting for a homeland in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, where Turkey has raised troop levels to more than 200,000 as part of a crackdown on the PKK, which has been fighting since 1984.

Reuters RAR RN1427