Turkey's military says five Turkish soldiers and five Kurdish rebels have been killed in clashes near the country's southeastern borders with Iraq and Iran.

A statement Thursday from the Turkish military says one soldier was killed and 15 others injured when a helicopter crashed near fighting in the province of Hakkari.  

Kurdish PKK rebels say they shot down the helicopter. Turkey's military says the helicopter crashed because of a technical malfunction.

The military says the helicopter was carrying soldiers going to reinforce troops ambushed by PKK fighters. Four soldiers were killed in that fighting.  

The military says five Kurdish rebels were killed in separate clashes near the Iraqi border.
 

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (r) and Turkey's Special Envoy to Iraq Murat Ozcelik talk during their meeting in Baghdad, Iraq , 14 Oct 2008 (photo provided by the Iraqi Government)

Earlier this week, Turkish officials met with the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, and the leader of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, Massud Barzani, to discuss border security.

The Turkish military has been making nearly daily air strikes along its southeastern border since an attack by PKK militants earlier this month left 17 Turkish soldiers dead.

The PKK has been fighting for Kurdish autonomy in southeastern Turkey since 1984. The violence has killed at least 37,000 people.

The PKK is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.