The blast left another man wounded.

The incident occurred on a road in Sirnak province when a vehicle carrying workers to a construction site ran over the explosives, the sources said.

The military operation was launched to hunt the perpetrators, believed to be militants from the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which often plants home-made explosive devices on roads used by the army.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community, took up arms against Ankara in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed about 45,000 lives.