Eighteen people were killed when a van packed with five tons of explosives blew up in Turkey’s restive southeast in an attack blamed on Kurdish militants, the prime minister says, raising the death toll significantly from earlier reports.
The bombing, which killed 10 soldiers and eight civilians, was one of the single deadliest attacks on the Turkish security forces since the attempted coup of July 15 when a rogue military faction tried to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“The attack was perpetrated by a suicide bomber who detonated a van (packed) with five tonnes of explosives,” Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told a press conference in Istanbul.
Earlier reports put the toll at nine dead after the attack which targeted a security post in Hakkari province. The explosion occurred as security forces were searching vehicles in Semdinli district, the official news agency Anadolu says.
Another 26 people — 10 soldiers and 16 civilians — were injured in the blast which was blamed on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Anadolu says.
— AFP
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