The explosion occurred when the shepherd stepped on the landmine while grazing animals with two cousins, aged 15 and 17, outside the village of Hangedik in the province of Van, the report said.

It was not immediately clear who planted the mine.

Turkey's east and southeast has been the theatre of 24-year bloody conflict between the army and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party fighting for self-rule. The conlict has claimed some 44,000 lives.

Many children have been killed or injured in the region after stepping on landmines or tampering with hand grenades or homemade bombs they have found dumped outdoors.