The soldiers were on patrol in a rural area near the town of Gurpinar in Van province when the explosives planted by militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) went off, the report said.

The PKK has significantly escalated attacks against Turkish targets after jailed rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan said in May that he was abandoning efforts for peace with Turkey and the rebels called off a unilateral truce last month.

Blacklisted as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community, the PKK took up arms for self-rule in the Kurdish-majority southeast of Turkey in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000 lives.