The incident occurred as villagers responded to a fire on Saturday inside an oil facility that had been ignited by a group of rebels near the town of Hasankeyf, in Batman province, the sources said.

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

It has significantly stepped up attacks since its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan declared in May that he was abandoning efforts to seek dialogue with Ankara.