The vehicle was on patrol near the town of Cukurca in Hakkari province, close to the border with Iraq, when a rocket was fired from the surrounding mountains.

A security operation was under way, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The arrival of spring has brought a rise in violence between Turkish security forces and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) operating out of bases in Turkey and neighbouring northern Iraq.

In one of the bloodiest attacks in recent months, PKK fired rockets at a navy base in southern Turkey on Monday, killing six soldiers and wounding seven.

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