ANKARA (Reuters) - Two Turkish soldiers died at the hospital where they were receiving treatment following clashes with militants in the mainly Kurdish southeast, the army said on Thursday.

The soldiers were wounded during an operation targeting militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the southeastern province of Bitlis, the army said. Another soldier is being also treated at the hospital, it said.

One village guard was also killed in the southeastern province of Siirt in overnight clashes with PKK militants, the private Dogan News Agency reported.

The southeast has been rocked by violence following the collapse of a 2-1/2-year ceasefire between the state and the PKK in 2015.

The PKK took up arms in 1984 to fight for an autonomous state and more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict since. It is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.