DIYARBAKIR (Reuters) - A Turkish military vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device in southeast Diyarbakir province, killing two soldiers, security sources said on Tuesday.

The device was detonated by militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) as the vehicle was passing the road, the sources said. They said ground and air operations were under way to hunt down the militants.

Separately, security sources said three PKK militants were killed in the southeastern province of Tunceli after being identified by a drone.

Turkey’s largely Kurdish southeast has been rocked by violence following the collapse of a 2-1/2-year ceasefire between the state and the PKK in 2015.

The autonomy-seeking PKK took up arms in 1984, and more than 40,000 people have died in the conflict. It is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.