Ankara  - Three state-employed village guards were killed in a roadside bomb explosion Friday in the south-eastern Turkish province of Batman, the Anadolu news agency reported.

The village guards were travelling in a minibus near the village of Sason when the roadside bomb was exploded via a remote-controlled device, Batman Governor Recep Kizilcik told Anadolu. Three others were injured in the blast, Kizilcik said.

No group claimed immediate responsibility for the attack but the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) is active in the region.

Turkey blames the separatist group for the deaths of more than 32,000 people since the early 1980s when the PKK began its fight for independence or autonomy for the mainly Kurdish-populated south-east of Turkey.

The PKK is listed by the United States and the European Union as a terrorist group. (dpa)