Car bomb attack in Turkey kills 5 police officers

A Turkish official says Kurdish rebels have detonated a car bomb in southeast Turkey, killing five police officers traveling inside a police vehicle.

Yavuz Selim Koser, the governor for Bingol, says four other police officers are seriously wounded in Monday’s attack in the mainly Kurdish province. He blames the attack on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has been fighting Turkey for Kurdish autonomy since 1984.

Clashes between the PKK and the Turkish security forces resumed a year ago after a fragile peace process collapsed. The renewed conflict has led to the death of nearly 600 security personnel and more than 5,000 Kurdish militants.

Last week, eight Turkish soldiers and 35 Kurdish militants were killed in clashes in the southeastern province of Hakkari.

— AP