The mine, planted by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), blew up as a group of soldiers passed by after a clearing mission at the town of Semdinli, near the Iraq and Iran borders, the officials said.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community, has often used mines since separatist rebels took up arms against the government in 1984.

The conflict has claimed the lives of some 45,000 people, according to a Turkish army tally.