The soldiers were on a security operation near the border town of Cukurca, Hakkari province, when the explosives went off, the officials said.

Rebels from the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) were believed to be behind the incident, they said.

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.