The two were members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and were killed in an operation by special police forces in the mountains of Siirt province, the news agency said, citing a statement from provincial governor Musa Colak.

No government forces were reported injured. The operation is still under way, the governor said.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey and much of the international community, took up arms in southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000 lives.