Three Turkish troops and six Kurdish rebels died in fighting in southeast Turkey, authorities said on Thursday. The clash erupted when troops came under fire on Mount Mercan in Tunceli province on Wednesday, the provincial governorÂ’s office said. Military trucks with mounted machine guns ferried dozens of Turkish commandos to the area, video footage by private Dogan news agency showed on Thursday. In a separate incident, five soldiers were wounded in a mine explosion near the town of Hozat, also in Tunceli province, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported. Attacks by Kurdish rebels have killed about 80 soldiers this year. Turkey is considering a military operation against guerrilla bases in neighbouring Iraq, but the US opposes such an incursion, fearing it might drag the relatively calm northern part of Iraq into chaos. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was expected to visit Ankara next week to discuss ways to prevent Kurdish guerrillas from using Iraqi territory to stage attacks on Turkey, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.