Turkish authorities said the attack led to clashes that left 26 people dead and 16 Turkish soldiers wounded. The attack took place in Yesiltas, near Turkey's border with Iraq.

The rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) are likely to have crossed into Turkey from northern Iraq, where they have bases.

Speaking at the G20 summit in Mexico, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Recep Erdogan told the rebels, whom he called terrosrists, "to lay down their arms." He also inisted that Turkey would never negotiate with terrorists.

"We will continue our struggle until the end and sooner or later, we will succeed in our fight against terror," he added.

Turkey, the European Union and the United States view the PKK as a terrorist organization. The group has been fighting for Kurdish rights in Turkey since the mid-1980s. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the violence in the majority-Kurdish southeast since then.

ncy/pfd (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)