A "revenge squad" from the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), seen as a radical offshoot of the outlawed PKK, targeted the off-duty conscripts and "successfully carried out the attack", the group said in a statement published by the pro-PKK Firat news agency.

The TAK identified the assailant as a 26-year-old man from eastern Turkish city of Van.

The public bus -- carrying low-ranking privates and non-commissioned officers -- was attacked after leaving the commando headquarters in the city to take the off-duty soldiers on a shopping trip.

The attack in Kayseri, an industrial hub in the heartland of Anatolia, was the latest in a spate of attacks that has targeted Turkey over the last months.

TAK had claimed a previous attack that targeted police in the heart of Istanbul near the main soccer club Besiktas's stadium last weekend that killed 44.

It had previously also claimed two major attacks in Ankara in February and March. However little is known about the group and its leadership.