Local authorities blamed the blast Sunday night at Beytussebap in Sirnak province, on the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which often plants home-made explosive devices on roads used by the army.

The bus was taking supplies to a military base when it struck the mine. The bus driver and a passenger were killed on the spot, the source said.

Some 45,000 people have been killed since 1984 when the PKK took up arms against Ankara for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast. It is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.