The casualties came in an attack late Wednesday by rebels from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that targeted against a police post near the town of Eruh, the Siirt provincial governor's office said in a statement.

More than 37,000 people have died since 1984 when the PKK -- classified as a "terrorist" group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union -- took up arms against Ankara for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast.

Violence has been on the rise since 2004, when the PKK called off a five-year unilateral ceasefire.

Clashes and attacks since the beginning of the year have claimed the lives of at least 100 rebels and 75 members of the Turkish security forces, according to an AFP count.