The bomb, planted by rebels from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), exploded when a military vehicle carrying soldiers to an army station passed over it near the town of Dogubayazit in Agri province, the report said.

Security forces launched an operation to catch the attackers.

The PKK has significantly stepped up attacks against Turkish targets after jailed rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan said in May that he was abandoning efforts for peace with Turkey and the rebels called off a unilateral truce last month.

Blacklisted as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community, the PKK took up arms for self-rule in the Kurdish-majority southeast of Turkey in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000 lives.

In an interview with the BBC earlier this week, senior PKK commander Murat Karayilan said his rebels would disarm if Turkey agreed to a ceasefire, stopped military operations and ceased arresting Kurdish politicians.

Ankara categorically rejects dialogue with the PKK and says it will keep up military pressure on the rebels while expanding Kurdish freedoms in the hope of persuading PKK militants to end the bloody 26-year campaign.