DIYARBAKIR, Turkey -- Soldiers killed two Kurdish militants in Turkey's rebellious southeast, where troops massed along the border threatened an incursion into Iraq.
Turkey's military has stepped up its campaign against separatist rebels who cross into country from bases in northern Iraq to stage attacks.
Sixteen guerrillas have been killed in the fighting this week, including the two killed in an overnight clash with soldiers near the town of Tunceli, the governor's office said.
The military also has been deploying troops on its border with Iraq, but says it is a routine precaution against rebel infiltration. The massing of troops, however, coincides with debate over whether to stage an incursion into Iraq to try to eradicate rebel bases there.
Turkey's military chief said Thursday his army was prepared to attack Kurdish guerrillas in a cross-border offensive and was awaiting government orders for an incursion, putting pressure on the government to support an offensive that risks straining ties with the United States.
Turkey last carried out a major incursion into Iraq to chase rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, a decade ago.
Separatist Kurdish guerrillas, taking advantage of a power vacuum in northern Iraq, have escalated attacks on Turkish targets. Turkey complains that the United States and Iraqi Kurds have done little to stop them.
The United States opposes a Turkish military incursion into northern Iraq, fearing it could destabilize what is one of the most stable regions of the country.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the guerrillas went to war for autonomy in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southeast in 1984.
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