DIYARBAKIR, July 6: Sixteen Iranian soldiers and four Turkish Kurd rebels have been killed in clashes in a mountainous region along the Turkish border, a pro-Kurdish news agency reported on Tuesday.

Turkish security sources confirmed the clashes, saying they were part of a "large-scale" operation that the Iranian army has launched against rebels from the former Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on their territory.

"There are at least 10 dead," a Turkish official said in Diyarbakir, the centre of Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast. The Germany-based MHA news agency, which is close to the rebels, reported that Iranian security forces had launched "a comprehensive operation" against the armed wing of the PKK last week. The first clashes occurred on Friday.

The Iranians used helicopters and heavy weapons, it said, adding that the operation was continuing. Iranian security forces also carried out raids - apparently on PKK targets - in the towns of Salmas and Khoy, near the Turkish border, MHA said.

The former PKK, now known as Kongra Gel, have long used the mountainous border regions of Iran and Iraq, which are difficult to guard, as a springboard for attacks on Turkish territory. -AFP