TUNCELI: Turkish security forces fought with Kurdish militants in clashes that killed three soldiers and two separatist fighters in eastern Turkey, security officials said on Friday.

The soldiers were killed when Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters opened fire on Turkish troops raiding suspected militant hideouts in the mountainous Tunceli province, the officials said.

A group of around 15-20 PKK militants had been planning attacks on the Tunceli town centre, they said. Army helicopters ferried special forces teams to the area at dawn on Friday, but their operations were hindered by heavy fog and rain. There was no immediate information on PKK casualties.

In separate clashes in Sirnak province, further south near the border with Iraq, security forces killed two PKK militants after they ambushed an armoured police vehicle on Thursday night, wounding a special forces chief and a police officer, the officials said.

Spring generally sees an upsurge in clashes between the Turkish army and the PKK as the militants emerge from their winter shelters.

More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state since the militants took up arms in 1984 with the aim of creating an independent Kurdish state.

The PKK is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.