Sirnak, Turkey: Turkey said on Monday eight of its soldiers were missing a day after clashes with Kurdish rebels near the Iraqi border, in which at least 12 soldiers were killed.
The General Staff also said 34 rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were killed in the clashes, two more than reported earlier.
The pro-PKK Firat news agency said eight Turkish soldiers had been captured and gave the names of seven men. Turkey has denied some of its soldiers were captured in the fighting.
Turkey has deployed as many as 100,000 troops in case of a an incursion. Kurdish rebels said they were prepared to fight back if their territory is attacked.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said he expected the United States to take "swift" steps against the rebels, who killed at least a dozen soldiers and wounded 16 on Sunday.
Asked about any pending attack, Turkish Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul said: "They are planning a cross-border [incursion] ... We'd like to do these things with the Americans."
Prime Minister Erdogan chaired a weekly cabinet meeting on Monday, which was expected to focus on the fighting and a possible incursion.
The United States and Iraq have called on Turkey to refrain from a military push into the Kurdish region, with US Defence Secretary Robert Gates saying that any attack "would be contrary to Turkey's interests as well as to our own and that of Iraq."
Turkish President Abdullah Gul had said in a statement that Turkey would pay any "price necessary to protect its rights."
Meanwhile, at least 3,000 Turks took to the streets on Monday, chanting slogans against the Kurdistan Workers' Party in a second day of protest at the deaths of the 12 soldiers.
