'Bomb explodes near Turk ruling party office'

Istanbul, Sept 5: A percussion bomb exploded next to the ruling AK Party's offices in the western Turkish city of Izmir today, but caused no injuries, the state news agency Anatolian reported.

The bomb was left in a rubbish container and shattered nearby windows in the major port city, the agency said.

Police could not immediately confirm the report.

The attack follows a series of bombings in Turkish tourist resorts and other cities in recent weeks. AK Party offices around Turkey have been targeted by bomb attacks in the past.

Three people were killed last week in the Mediterranean tourist hub of Antalya while a day earlier more than 20 people, including 10 Britons, were injured in three almost simultaneous bombings in the resort of Marmaris.

Those attacks were claimed by the Kurdistan Liberation Hawks, which warned tourists against coming to Turkey and threatened to turn the country into ''hell''. The shadowy group has links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which launched a campaign for a Kurdish homeland in 1984.

Ankara blames that group for more than 30,000 deaths and it is on terrorist lists in the United States and the European Union.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility tomorrow.

REUTERS