Officials in Turkey say Turkish security forces and Kurdish rebels have clashed in the country's troubled southeast, killing nine people.

Authorities said Saturday three Turkish troops and three Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK militants were killed in fighting in Hakkari province, near the border with Iraq.

In a separate incident in Bitlis province northwest of Hakkari, three state-backed Kurdish village guards were killed as they helped Turkish security forces fight militants.

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