Explosion hits Kurdish city of Wan, SE Turkey

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) - On Monday, an explosion took place close to the governorate's building in the Kurdish city of Van (Wan) in the Kurdistan of Turkey (Bakur).

Following the explosion, ambulances rushed to the scene.

The explosion was the result of a car bomb attack that wounded 48 people, two of whom were police officers, according to the governor's office.

Two injured victim are in critical conditions but no death has been reported.

Justice and Development Party (AKP) member of parliament for the province of Wan, Burhan Kayaturk said that the target was the AKP's office near the area. 

Alongside the party building of the AKP, those of the main opposition party Republican People's Party (CHP) and the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic (HDP) nearby have seen some infrastructural damage.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Turkish authorities are blaming the outlawed Kurdistan workers' Party (PKK) for the explosion.

PKK is labeled as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies, including the US.

Instability has risen in Turkey, especially in the Kurdish region. The area has been scorched by violence since a ceasefire between the PKK and the government collapsed following  July elections in 2015. Round-the-clock curfews were instituted in parts of the southeast.

On August 20, a suspected suicide IS bomber targeted a Kurdish wedding while the guests were dancing on the streets in the city of Gaziantep, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Syrian border. In the attack, 50 people were killed, and over 100 more were wounded.

Editing by Ava Homa

(Additional reporting by Ari Khalidi)