The soldiers were on patrol in a rural area near Cukurca town in Hakkari province, which borders Iran and Iraq, when the blast occurred, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The explosives were believed to have been planted by rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by Ankara and much of the international community, took up arms in 1984 for self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000 lives.