The rocket attack on a sentry box in Silvan town also left one other soldier wounded, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

The soldiers were in charge of securing Silvan Dam, which is under construction, they added.

An operation has been launched to catch the extremists who fled after the attack.

The PKK – listed as a extremist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU – resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015.

Since then, over 600 security personnel – including troops, police officers and village guards – have been killed and more than 5,000 PKK extremists killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq.