Gunmen in Turkey have killed seven soldiers and wounded three others in an attack on a paramilitary post in the country's Tokat province, local officials have said.

The soldiers were on patrol in a mountainous area near the town of Resadiye when they came under fire, a provincial governor told the Anatolia news agency.

The identity of the attackers was not clear, but ethnic tensions have risen in the past few weeks, ahead of a court case hearing aimed at closing Turkey's largest pro-Kurdish party.

Turkey's Constitutional Court will being deliberations on Tuesday over whether to shut down the Democratic Society Party, which is often accused of being a front for a Kurdish rebel group.

Violent street protests by Kurdish separatist supporters have been seen across the country in the past few weeks, leaving two people dead and several injured.

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has carried out past attacks, is fighting for autonomy in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish south-east.

Attacks in the Tokat region are rare, with the last nearly a decade ago in 2001.

In that incident, two two Turkish soldiers were killed when attackers used rocket launchers to ambush security forces.