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Series of bomb attacks in southeast Turkey

The official said that at least seven people were wounded in the assault in Diyarbakir, majority believed to be police officers.

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In the region’s largest city, Diyarbakir, sources say five civilians were killed in a vehicle bomb attack apparently targeting police, the sources said.

The cross-border raid and police operation came a day after four Turkish soldiers were killed near the border with Iraq in attacks targeting military vehicles and eight other people died in southeast Turkey in simultaneous bomb attacks targeting police vehicles.

An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations, told the Associated Press that at least 25 people were wounded in the Kiziltepe attack, including at least five young children.

In Diyarbakir, a vehicle bomb killed at least five civilians and wounded 12 others.

As well as fighting the PKK, Turkey is battling so-called Islamic State, whose militants have carried out a series of bloody attacks over the past year.

Wednesday’s bomb attacks in the southeast’s largest city Diyarbakir and in the Kiziltepe area of Mardin province, were condemned by the HDP in a statement on Wednesday evening.

Earlier this week, PKK commander Cemil Bayik threatened attacks against police in Turkish cities, according to media reports.

Security sources have blamed the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) for the coordinated attacks on police targets.

Thirty other 30 civilians and 10 police officers were wounded.

Since the PKK abandoned its ceasefire past year, Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast has seen its worst violence in two decades.

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Since then, more than 600 Turkish security personnel and thousands of PKK militants have been killed, according to Anadolu. “The Turkish authorities are faced with hard challenges, due also to the violent acts by PKK, which is on the EU list of terrorist organizations”, Maja Kocijancic, EU spokesperson for foreign affairs, said in a statement. Activists claim innocent civilians have also been killed in the military offensives.

Police search an area after a bomb attack in Mardin Turkey Wednesday Aug 10 2016. A wave of Kurdish rebel attacks targeting police and soldiers in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast killed at least 12 people on Wednesday as Turkey was still dealing