TAK takes responsibility for Diyarbakir blast that IS claimed

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) on Sunday claimed responsibility for the Friday blast in the Kurdish city of Diyarbakir that killed 11 people and wounded over 100.

In a statement on its website, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) splinter group TAK said a militant named Kemal Hakkari conducted the suicide bombing whose target was a Turkish police station in the central Baglar district.

The attack came hours after the mass detention of a dozen leaders and lawmakers of Turkey’s second largest opposition block pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), including its co-chairs Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag.

CONFUSION REGARDING THE PERPETRATORS

Shortly after the attack, the Ankara-appointed Governor’s Office in Diyarbakir said the PKK members had taken responsibility for the blast.

Early on Saturday, the Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility through its propaganda outlet Aamaq whose statement was also carried by international agencies including Reuters.

In response, the Diyarbakir Governorate dismissed the claim insisting the PKK was the perpetrator behind the bombing.

Moreover, the explosion also killed a local Kurdish politician Recai Altay of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) who was in detention at the police station.

The blast drew wide-ranging condemnation including the US State Department whose Spokesperson John Kirby called on the PKK to stop “its senseless, brutal attacks.”

The HDP, on its part, said the target was its detained co-chairs and lawmakers who were being questioned at the police station two hours before the explosion and called for a thorough investigation.

TAK’s release first appeared on the PKK-affiliated Firat News Agency (ANF), and later on its website.

The press release expressed “sorrow” for also killing the DBP’s Altay, “a prisoner they [did] not know would be there.”

The group, which admittedly does not refrain from conducting attacks on targets that may include civilians, claims to be a breakaway faction of the PKK.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany