At the same time as the attack in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, a simultaneous blast hit a police bus in the town of Kiziltepe about 70 miles further south. The injured included at least five children aged between 2 and 5, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations. It is feared another two people were killed in the second attack.
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Officials have already blamed both attacks on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
“We remain steadfast in our support for Turkey, our North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally and partner, which has suffered from several recent terrorist attacks, as well as a violent coup attempt on July 15”, Price said.
Meanwhile, an nearly simultaneous second explosion occured in Diyarbakir, some 100 kilometers to the north, leaving at least five people wounded.
Turkish police detained 17 people as part of an operation aimed at Kurdish militants early on Thursday, conducting raids across Istanbul, including at the offices of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), state-run Anadolu Agency said. Several ambulances were sent to the area.
Fighting between the military and the PKK has continued since the July 15 failed putsch in which a rogue group within the armed forces tried to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from power.
The agency said the raid was carried out Wednesday hours after Turkish military vehicles were attacked near the border with Iraq, killing four soldiers.
The private Dogan news agency said that insurgents attacked military vehicles with improvised explosives and with rockets fired from inside northern Iraq.
Last month, Human Rights Watch reported that the government is blocking all access for investigations into alleged attacks on civilians in southeast Turkey.
The raids, in 10 districts across Turkey’s largest city, targeted the “urban structure” of the PKK, Anadolu said.
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The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization also by the USA and the European Union – resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015.
