Two police officers were killed and 19 people were wounded when a car bomb exploded near a passing police vehicle in the eastern Turkish province of Bingol on Sunday, security sources said, reports Reuters.

The bomb, planted by militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), was detonated near the district governor's office, the security sources said.

Five police officers were among the injured, they said.

Hours before the bombing, PKK militants had attempted an attack overnight on the district governor's home, using long-range rifles and rocket launchers, Dogan news agency reported.

Two militants made it to the door of the house, but fled when police returned fire, it said.

Turkey's largely Kurdish southeast has been hit by waves of violence since the collapse of a 2-1/2-year ceasefire between the state and the PKK last year.

The autonomy-seeking PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and Europe. More than 40,000 people, most of them Kurds, have died in violence since the PKK first took up arms against the state three decades ago.