A car bomb attack in the largest city in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast region killed eight people Friday, hours after authorities detained at least 12 pro-Kurdish legislators for questioning in terror-related probes.
(FOX)- Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said two police officers, a technician and five civilians died in the attack near a building used by the riot police. Up to 100 people were hurt in the blast but only seven of them remain in hospital, he said.
Yildirim also said one of the assailants was “caught dead” but did not provide details.
The Diyarbakir governor’s office said the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, had claimed the attack, which the state-run Anadolu Agency said was carried out with a minibus laden with a ton of explosives.
The blast caused a large crater near the police building and damaged several buildings and businesses nearby. Television footage showed people walking among glass and other debris near buildings with windows blown out. Authorities imposed a temporary news blackout after the explosion, barring reports that could lead to public “fear, panic or chaos” and images showing the explosion and its aftermath.
Turkey has been plagued by a series of deadly bomb attacks in the past 18 months, carried out by Kurdish militants or Islamic State group extremists.
The PKK has waged a three-decade-long insurgency against the Turkish state and is considered a terror organization by Turkey and its allies. A fragile cease-fire collapsed in 2015 and at least 700 state security personnel and thousands of Kurdish militants have been killed since then, according to Anadolu.
Hours earlier, police detained 11 legislators from the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party, or HDP, including the party’s two co-chairs, Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag. Prosecutors demanded that the two be formally arrested pending trial.
(Photo Credit: IHA via AP/Fox News)