ANKARA- Two Turkish soldiers were killed and another injured after stepping on a landmine planted by the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) during an operation in the southeastern province of Hakkari on Saturday, the semi-official news agency Anatolia reported.

Lieutenant Omer Azak and private Mahmut Elci died after stepping on a landmine planted by the PKK, a statement by the local governor's office was quoted as saying.

Private Suleyman Sanverdi was wounded in the explosion, while operation was underway in the region, said the statement.

The PKK recently declared a unilateral ceasefire with Ankara as of October 1, saying that it wants to pave the way for a resolution of the conflict through dialogue.

The PKK, which was listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, has been fighting for an ethnic homeland in the mainly Kurdish southeastern Turkey since 1984 in a conflict that has claimed more than 30,000 lives.