At least seven security personnel killed by remote-controlled bomb in Turkey

Published February 18, 2016
Forensic experts arrive near the site last night's explosion in Ankara, Turkey. ─ Reuters
Forensic experts arrive near the site last night's explosion in Ankara, Turkey. ─ Reuters

ISTANBUL: At least seven security force members travelling in a military vehicle were killed by a remote-controlled bomb in southeast Turkey, security sources said.

The blast hit the armoured vehicle on the highway linking Diyarbakir, the largest city in the mainly Kurdish southeast, to the district of Lice. Sources previously said the explosion hit a convoy of vehicles.

The incident comes just a day after a car bomb in the heart of the Turkish capital, Ankara, killed at least 28 people and wounded 61 others. The country has recently faced a string of attacks blamed on militants and Kurdish rebels.

The perpetrator of the Ankara attack was identified as a member of the Syria Kurdish YPG militia working with insurgents from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Prime Minister Davutoglu said.

Davutoglu said the bombing showed that the Syrian Kurdish YPG is a terrorist organisation and that Turkey expects cooperation from its allies against the group. He said Turkey would continue to shell positions of the YPG.

Washington, which has said the YPG is not a terrorist group, has backed the insurgents in the fight against the militant Islamic State (IS) group in Syria.

"In light of information we have obtained, it has been clearly identified that this attack has been carried out by the members of terrorist organisation inside Turkey together with a YPG member individual who has crossed from Syria," Davutoglu said.

He also said nine people have been detained in relation to yesterday's attack.

Opinion

Editorial

Wheat price crash
Updated 20 May, 2024

Wheat price crash

What the government has done to Punjab’s smallholder wheat growers by staying out of the market amid crashing prices is deplorable.
Afghan corruption
20 May, 2024

Afghan corruption

AMONGST the reasons that the Afghan Taliban marched into Kabul in August 2021 without any resistance to speak of ...
Volleyball triumph
20 May, 2024

Volleyball triumph

IN the last week, while Pakistan’s cricket team savoured a come-from-behind T20 series victory against Ireland,...
Border clashes
19 May, 2024

Border clashes

THE Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier has witnessed another series of flare-ups, this time in the Kurram tribal district...
Penalising the dutiful
19 May, 2024

Penalising the dutiful

DOES the government feel no remorse in burdening honest citizens with the cost of its own ineptitude? With the ...
Students in Kyrgyzstan
Updated 19 May, 2024

Students in Kyrgyzstan

The govt ought to take a direct approach comprising convincing communication with the students and Kyrgyz authorities.