The unrest has been fuelled by the war in Syria. Turkey says the PKK
- considered a terrorist organisation by Ankara, the European Union and
the United States - has deep ties to the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia
fighting just across the border.
Car bomb at police station in southeast Turkey kills three, wounds many (Reuters)
A car bomb attack by Kurdish militants on a police station in southeastern Turkey killed three people and wounded more than 30 on Wednesday, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said, a day after a bomb targeting police in Istanbul killed 11.
The
explosion in the town of Midyat destroyed the facade of a five-storey
block, damaged other buildings, and sent a plume of thick black smoke
rising over the area. Hospital sources said police and civilians were
among the wounded.
Clashes broke out between security forces and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in Midyat as the attack took place, security sources said.
The
town is in Mardin, a province bordering Syria and part of Turkey's
largely Kurdish southeast, where the PKK has waged a three-decade
insurgency for Kurdish autonomy. Violence has spiralled since a
ceasefire collapsed almost a year ago.
The unrest
has been fuelled by the war in Syria. Turkey says the PKK - considered a
terrorist organisation by Ankara, the European Union and the United
States - has deep ties to the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia fighting just
across the border.
The groups do not deny links.
The PKK founded the YPG as a Syrian organisation a decade ago and both
are inspired by Abdullah Ocalan, who led the PKK from inception and
lived in Syria shortly before his capture in 1999.
Ambulances
rushed to the scene of the blast and reinforcements from the security
forces were being sent to the area from around Mardin province, security
sources said.
"My nation should know that the
state of the Turkish Republic is strong. It is one and united no matter
what the terrorist organisation does," Yildirim said in Istanbul, after visiting those wounded in the previous day's attack.
"Whether
they carry out suicide bombings in our cities, whatever methods they
use, they can never tire this nation and can never pull us back from
this honorable fight."
There has been no
claim of responsibility for Tuesday's attack in Istanbul, in which a car
bomb ripped through a police bus during the morning rush hour. But
Kurdish militants have staged similar attacks on the security forces,
including in Istanbul and the capital Ankara.
Security
concerns were already hitting tourism and investor confidence in
Turkey. Wars in neighbouring Syria and Iraq have fostered a home-grown
Islamic State network blamed for a series of suicide bombings, while
Kurdish militants have increasingly struck beyond their usual targets in
the southeast.
Yildirim said six police and five
civilians were among the dead from Tuesday's attack, which he said had
targeted riot police units responsible for security at the nearby
Istanbul University as they changed shifts.
Two police officers and one civilian were killed in Midyat, he said.
"The
murderer is the PKK organisation. This hasn't surprised us, but the
circle around them is slowly narrowing. Both in the cities and in rural
areas, we will continue to fight them decisively," he said.
إرسال تعليق