The attack late Monday by Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels targeted the police headquarters and lodgings in Eruh, Siirt province, during a power outage, the governor's office said in a statement carried by Anatolia.

A policeman died in the initial fire while another sustained light injuries, the statement said.

Three PKK militants were killed in the subsequent exchange of fire, Anatolia added.

There has been a significant rise in rebel attacks since jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan said in late May that he was abandoning efforts for dialogue with Ankara to seek a peaceful end to the conflict and the rebels called off a unilateral truce in early June.

Blacklisted as a terrorist group by both Turkey and much of the international community, the PKK has been waging an armed campaign since 1984 for self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast in a conflict that has claimed some 45,000 lives.