The decision by his father -- the driver of the van who died with the other occupants of the vehicle when it was shot up by gunmen on a rural road in the southeastern province of Sirnak on Saturday -- saved the boy's life they said.

The Sirnak governor's office said on its website Monday that the death toll from the attack was revised down from 13 to 12.

Turkish officials have attributed the attack near the town of Beytussebab, not far from the Iraqi border, to the rebel Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK).

Officials said seven of the victims were members of the village guard, a government-armed Kurdish militia protecting local villages against PKK attacks and helping the army in its fight against the rebels.

The others were labourers returning from work at the construction of a water channel nearby.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the European Union and the United States, has waged a bloody campaign for self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish east and southeast since 1984.

The conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives.

Saturday's attack occurred a day after Turkey and Iraq signed a counter-terrorism agreement aimed at combatting the PKK, whose militants take refuge in neighbouring northern Iraq and use bases in the region to mount attacks on Turkish targets across the border.

Ankara has accused Iraqi Kurds, who control northern Iraq, of tolerating and even aiding the rebels.