The blast occurred when the military vehicle carrying the soldiers ran over the landmine in a rural area in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir, the agency said.

It said the landmine had been laid by "terrorists" -- the official term used to describe rebels from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

More than 37,000 people have been killed since 1984 when the PKK took up arms for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey.

The group, listed as a terrorist organisation by Ankara and much of the international community, called a unilateral ceasefire last October.

Turkey has rejected the truce, but fighting has largely subsided since then.