Diyarbakir blast kills four Turkish police

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Kurdistan24) - A roadside blast in the Kurdish city of Diyarbakir on Monday killed at least four Turkish police officers and wounded two more.

The IED attack around 4:30 PM targeted an armored police vehicle patrolling near the Dicle University campus, just outside the city center, said a Kurdistan24 correspondent in Diyarbakir.

Ambulances and police reinforcements rushed to the scene of the explosion whose casualties were taken to the nearby Medical Faculty of the University, added the reporter.

In a press release on its website, Governorate of Diyarbakir Province called the blast a terror attack but did not put the blame on any side.

It also said the wounded were in critical condition.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility from any group for the attack at the time of writing this report, though Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was the main suspect according to Turkish news outlets.

PKK and Turkish state forces have been locked in a renewed phase of a decades-long conflict over government repression of Kurdish rights.

Diyarbakir's Sur central district now lying in rubbles was the scene of an urban conflict between the two sides in late 2015 into 2016 for more than three months.

Meanwhile, in the city of Sirnak near the border with the Kurdistan Region, an explosion wounded five people, all civilians.

Two of the injured were a private firm's workers operating an excavator to fix Sirnak's water network which was much damaged during months of fighting between PKK affiliates and Turkish forces.

A tentative ceasefire and peace negotiations held for two years collapsed in July 2015.

Editing by Ava Homa