Kurdish rebels on Sunday released eight Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq two weeks after capturing them in an ambush inside Turkey, private NTV television reported, citing Iraqi Kurdish officials.

The release of the soldiers, however, was not expected to affect Turkish plans. Turkey's military and civilian leadership have repeatedly stressed their determination to stage an incursion if the US or Iraq do not crack down on rebel hideouts in northern Iraq.

The US is pressing hard to keep Turkey from staging a cross-border offensive against the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, in remote mountains of northern Iraq. The US designates the PKK as an international terrorist organization.