Anatolia said that the incident occurred in Nusaybin in Mardin province, where the security forces have been conducting a vast operation aimed at flushing PKK rebels out of the area.

The agency is Turkey's largest and has a large network of journalists in Turkey and abroad.

The border town of Nusaybin has been a hotspot in the fighting that flared up again between Turkish forces and the PKK after a fragile two-and-a-half year truce fell apart in July.

In recent days Turkey has taken its fight against Kurdish fighters across the border into Syria, where it has been bombarding a Kurdish-led coalition that has been making territorial gains within striking distance of Turkey.

Turkey, which fears the creation of a Kurdish stronghold along its border with Syria, insists it is acting in "legitimate defence".