Three Turkish troops and five Kurdish rebels died in fighting in southeast Turkey, authorities said Thursday,according to AP. The clash erupted when troops came under fire on Mt. Mercan in Tunceli province on Wednesday, the provincial governor's office said. 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 neighboring Iraq, but the United States opposes such an incursion, fearing it might drag the relatively calm northern part of Iraq into chaos.