Turkish police HQ hit by bomb explosion

BBC

A car bomb blast has hit a police headquarters in south-eastern Turkey, killing six people and wounding at least 39, officials say.

A woman and a baby were among the dead. Rescuers were searching through rubble at the scene in Cinar district, Diyarbakir province.

Officials blamed the blast on Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) militants, who are active in the mainly Kurdish province.

No group has so far said it carried out the attack.

The bomb was detonated at the entrance of the Cinar district police complex, officials say. The blast also damaged nearby residential buildings, where the mother and baby were killed.

The attackers then reportedly fired rockets at the headquarters.

Another police station, in Midyat town, in neighbouring Mardin province, was also attacked by militants, according to Turkish media, but there are no reports of casualties.

Diyarbakir province has seen violent clashes between PKK separatists and the Turkish army in recent months.

Last year, the city of Diyarbakir and a number of other areas in the south-east were put under curfew as part of a security crackdown.

This followed a bomb blast that left 16 soldiers dead and a rebel ambush that killed 14 police officers – both incidents in the east.

A ceasefire between the army and the PKK collapsed in July, and Turkish jets have since bombed PKK bases in northern Iraq and the army launched a ground operation there.

Turkey is also part of a US-led coalition that has been carrying out air strikes against Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq and Syria.

However, Ankara has been accused of hitting mostly PKK targets, angering Kurds who are themselves fighting IS in the two countries.