Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed the "heinous attack" which caused a civilian loss as it happened close to a wedding gathering, reported the Anatolia news agency.

The blast which shattered windows of the nearby shops occurred in the Semdinli town of Hakkari province bordering Iraq, as an armoured police vehicle passed by, said security sources and officials.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Kurdish rebels have carried out similar attacks on security targets in the past.

Semdinli is the scene of frequent clashes between Turkish security forces and members of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The blast follows an escalation of Kurdish rebel attacks targeting Turkey's security forces in the southeast, triggering full-fledged military operations in the region.

On Thursday, another car exploded outside a military barracks in a southern Turkey town near Syria, lightly injuring four people, in an attack blamed on Kurdish rebels.

About 45,000 people have been killed since the PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey and much of the international community, took up arms for autonomy in Kurdish-majority southeastern Turkey in 1984.