A bomb blast has killed at least 10 people and injured 13 in southeastern Turkey, according to the state-owned Anatolia news agency.

Seven children were among the dead, according to Turkish news reports.

A hospital made an appeal for blood donations after the injured were brought in to be treated. Some of the casualties were in serious condition and were being operated on, officials at the hospital said on Tuesday.

The explosion, which occurred late on Tuesday near a park in the city of Diyarbakir, the Kurdish capital of the southeast, was apparently triggered by a mobile phone, police said.

An official from the local governor's office said the authorities were investigating the possibility that it could have been a bomb left in a package.

Police in Diyarbakir have launched a major search operation,  throwing up checkpoints on key roads leading out of the city.

Turkey has been plagued by a spate of bombings in recent weeks, which have killed a total of 12 people and wounded dozens, including 10 British tourists.

The Kurdistan Liberation Hawks (TAK), the rebel group which claimed the previous attacks in late August, has threatened to turn Turkey into "hell".

At least 30,000 people have been killed in the long war between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

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