DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Three Turkish soldiers were killed and 10 wounded on Monday in attacks by Kurdish militants during security operations in the southeastern Turkish town of Nusaybin near the Syrian border, the armed forces said.

In the latest attack, one soldier died and six were wounded as a result of the detonation of explosives planted by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants, the military said.

It said earlier in the day that PKK fighters staged an attack in which two soldiers were killed and four wounded.

Thousands of militants and hundreds of civilians and soldiers have been killed since the PKK resumed its insurgency last summer after a 2-1/2-year ceasefire, shattering a peace process.

The government has ruled out any return to the negotiating table and has vowed to crush the PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.

The armed forces said in a separate statement that on Sunday 15 PKK militants had been killed in clashes in Nusaybin and the towns of Sirnak and Lice, also in the southeast.

More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict since the PKK took up arms against the state in 1984.