Turkish troops have killed 16 Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey in clashes that followed an attack on a military convoy.

Turkish officials said rebels from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) detonated roadside bombs Wednesday in Hakkari, near the border with Iraq and Iran, killing five soldiers and wounding seven others.

The army responded with troop reinforcements and helicopter gunships, killing the 16 rebels.

Officials blamed the PKK for a car bombing Monday in the southern town of Gaziantep, near Syria, that killed nine people. The PKK denied responsibility for that attack.

More than 40,000 people, mostly Kurds, have been killed since the PKK took up arms in 1984 to demand autonomy.