Turkish troops fight PKK in east -sources

TUNCELI, Turkey, June 18 (Reuters) - Two thousand Turkish soldiers took part in an operation against Kurdish separatists on Wednesday, killing three rebels in southeast Turkey, security sources said.

Cobra attack helicopters pounded suspected Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) positions in the province of Tunceli, the sources, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

State-run Anatolian news agency reported that eight rebels had surrendered in Sirnak province, further south near the border with Iraq.

Turkey has stepped up operations against PKK inside Turkey and, since the end of a February land offensive against guerrillas based in northern Iraq, has launched a series of air strikes against PKK targets in the neighbouring country.

The armed forces tend to step up operations in the spring when the snow melts.

Ankara blames the PKK for 40,000 deaths since 1994 when the group took up arms to try to establish an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey. Turkey, the United States and the European Union classify the group a terrorist organisation. (Writing by Paul de Bendern; Editing by Stephen Weeks)