The blast ocurred near Cavizduzu village in Sirnak province when a vehicle carrying the five victims ran over what was believed to be a landmine planted by rebels from the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the sources said.

Three of the dead were members of the so-called village guard, a militia of local Kurds armed and paid by the Turkish government to help the army against the PKK.

Landmine attacks have become a hallmark of PKK violence in the Kurdish-majority southeast, where the group has waged a bloody campaign for self-rule.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by Ankara and much of the international community, took up arms in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed about 45,000 lives.