Deadly explosion kills seven police officers in Turkey’s Diyrabakir

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Kurdistan24) – On Thursday, several police officers were killed and injured when an explosion hit a police vehicle in the Kurdish-dominated city of Diyarbakir, Turkey.

A Kurdistan24 reporter in Diyarbakir said seven police officers have been killed and 27 people have been injured. Thirteen of the wounded are police officers. The car bomb attack targeted a police shuttle.

“The explosion happened when a parked car laden with explosives was detonated by remote control as a minibus carrying police officers turned in a corner on a busy street,” Kurdistan24 reporter said.

A number of ambulances arrived at the scene and the wounded police officers were transported to Diyarbakir Military Hospital.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is currently in the US for a nuclear security summit, denounced the attack. "This shows terrorism's ugly face again. The determination of our security forces will, God willing, put an end to it,” Erdogan said in a speech to the Brookings Institute.

Turkey's leading secular media Hurriyet Daily News said that the attack came as Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was due on Friday to make a rare visit to Diyarbakir.

“Davutoglu is scheduled to visit the province on April 1 and visit the Sur district, where security operations were conducted for months,” Hurriyet Daily News reported.

So far no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Turkey’s southeast has been scorched by violence since a ceasefire between the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Turkish government collapsed last July. The government announced it has killed thousands of militants since then. More than 350 members of the security forces have been killed in the fighting, Reuters reported.

Reporting by Hisham Arafat

Editing by Ava Homa