The incident occurred when soldiers manning a checkpoint on a road near Kozluk, in Batman province, came under fire from a vehicle, the statement said.

The soldiers returned fire, killing two rebels from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The boy, who was in the same vehicle, died of gunshot wounds and his mother was wounded, the statement added.

More than 37,000 people have died since 1984 when the PKK -- classified as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union -- took up arms against Ankara for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast.

The bloody conflict has wreaked havoc with the impoverished economy of the region, displaced thousands and led to allegations of gross human rights violations on both sides.

Violence has been on the rise since 2004, after the PKK called off a five-year unilateral ceasefire.