The landmine was planted on rail track that links the provinces of Bingol and Elazig and was activated by remote control.

The authorities believe the blast was the work of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), blamed for similar train attacks in the past.

Last year, five railway security guards were killed when a bomb ripped through a train, also in Bingol.

At least 94 PKK militants and 58 members of the security forces have been killed in mounting unrest in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast this year, according to an AFP count.

Kurdish militants have also claimed responsibility for 13 bomb blasts in urban centers across the country, in which nine people were killed and more than 150 others injured.

The Kurdish conflict in Turkey has claimed more than 37,000 lives since 1984 when the PKK, blacklisted as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, took up arms for Kurdish self-rule in the southeast.