The vehicle was found abandoned outside Diyarbakir, the region's largest city, several hours after the police, growing suspicious of the driver's moves, began tailing it on Sunday, the Diyarbakir governor's office said.

Police believe it was on its way to mountainous hideouts of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a bloody campaign for Kurdish self-rule in the region.

The vehicle was carrying a rocket launcher, rockets, hand grenades, bullets and food, the statement said.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, took up arms in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed about 44,000 lives.