There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion that took place near the Kurdish town of Kulp in Diyarbakir province.

However, AP said the regional governor’s office had blamed the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) for the explosion and said that Turkey’s military has launched an operation to catch the perpetrators.

Four villagers were killed last year in a similar attack on a road in Kulp, which was also blamed on the PKK.

Last week, an explosion in eastern Turkey damaged a natural gas pipeline and halted gas flows from Iran.

A report by the International Crisis Group released in March found that at least 4,825 people had been killed in clashes or attacks since July 20, 2015, when a peace process broke down in the conflict between Turkey and the PKK.

The number includes 489 civilians and 226 people, who could not be confirmed to be civilians or combatants.

Reporter’s code: 50101