Car bomb targets police HQ in southeast Turkey killing 9 injuring 64 - UPDATE

RT
Fri, 26 Aug 2016 04:57 UTC

© Stringer/ Reuters

9 people were killed and 64 wounded when a bomb blast hit a police station in the city of Cizre in the southeast of Turkey, according to hospital sources, as cited by Reuters.

Unconfirmed reports say that at least three police officers have been"martyred" in the attack.

Photos and videos coming from the southeastern city in Turkey's Sirnak Province show destroyed buildings and ambulances rushing to the scene.

The police station was completely destroyed by the blast, NTV broadcaster reported.

Initial information suggests that the explosives were planted in a car.

Other less powerful blasts occurred at an arms depot nearby, where several buildings were damaged, according to NTV.

Anadolu news agency and other local media say the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is behind the blast.

Cizre is in Sirnak, a province that borders both Syria and Iraq and has a largely Kurdish population.

On Wednesday, Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield, sending its troops into northern Syria ostensibly to take the town of Jarablus from IS. The Turkish operation wasn't authorized by the Syrian government, however. Kurdish YPG command has denounced the offensive, saying Turkey is targeting the Kurds "more than ISIS."

In April, a human rights group in Turkey sent a report to the UN detailing serious human rights violations committed by the Turkish military during its campaign against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party in the country's southeast, as well as during curfews imposed in the region by Ankara.

At that time, several activists from major human right watchdogs went to Cizre and witnessed the aftermath of the military operations, which left the city devastated.

Comment: With Turkey now turning to Russia and making efforts to target ISIS, are the West sending a powerful message in an attempt to nip the alliance in the bud, while simultaneously creating further tension between Turkish and Kurdish populations?

Update

Turkish authorities are blaming the PKK for this latest attack, the death toll of which has risen to 11.

"A PKK suicide attack using a truck bomb took place at a checkpoint in the Cizre area of our province this morning at 6:45 a.m. [03:45 GMT]. Eleven policemen were killed as a result of this cowardly terrorist attack and 78 people, including three civilians, were wounded. Four are in serious condition," the Sirnak administration said. Its comments were echoed by Prime Minister Binali Yildlirim in televised remarks. Television channels broadcast images of the police building's carcass. Local correspondents described seeing a "large pit" at the site of the explosion. The Health Ministry was quoted as saying earlier that 12 ambulances and two helicopters have been dispatched to the scene of the incident.