Turkey: Car bomb blast at police HQ kills 11; 78 injured

Ankara, Aug 26: At least 11 people, including many policemen, were killed while 78, including three civilians, were injured in a car bomb attack at the police headquarters in Cizre town in southwast Turkey on Friday (Aug 26).

Although it was unclear who carried the attack but the Turkish media held the Kurdistan Workers Party responsible.

The attack caused huge damage to the headquarters of the special antiriot police with TV reports showing thick black smoke billowing from the spot, PTI said.

Quoting the local governor's office, the state-run Anadolu news agency said eight police officers were among the killed while 45 were injured, two of them seriously.

The country's health ministry said 12 ambulances and two helicopters were pressed into action. The police building was reduced to rubble by the impact of the blast while adjacent buildings also sustained serious damage, TV reports said, according to PTI.

The main road to Cizre from Sirnak, the provincial capital, to the north was shut, the news agancy said. Turkish forces are being regularly attacked by the PKK after a two-and-a-half year ceasefire collapsed in 2015 and several policemen and soldiers have been killed.

The latest attack came just two days after the Turkish forces launched an operation in neighbouring Syria, claimed to be directed against jihadists and Syrian Kurdish militia.

Oneindia News

[With PTI inputs]