Three Blasts Rock Eastern Turkey

Two car bombs and a roadside explosive have exploded in eastern Turkey targeting police and security forces.

At least nine people were killed and more than 200 injured in the three separate bombings on August 18 in attacks that Turkish authorities are blaming on the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

A roadside bomb in Bitlis in southeastern Turkey targeted a military vehicle and killed three soldiers, injuring six.

Earlier on August 18, a bomb exploded outside a local police headquarters in Van, killing two police officers and one civilian. About 73 others — including 20 police officers — were reported injured.

A few hours later, a second explosion hit a police station in Elazig, leaving three police officers dead and as many as 170 injured.

There have been no claims of responsibility, although Turkish authorities have blamed the PKK.

In Van, Deputy Governor Mehmet Parlak told local journalists that a “militant” who had parked the car in front of the building had been apprehended and was being questioned.

Turkish security forces have faced nearly daily conflicts with the PKK since a cease-fire agreement fell apart in 2015.

In the city of Diyarbakir, eight people were killed by a car-bomb attack on August 15.

The PKK originally declared an armed independence struggle in 1984, and more than 40,000 people have died in the violence since then.

Source: rferl.org