Eight police officers and a civilian were wounded early on Friday in Türkiye’s southeastern province Diyarbakır after a bomb exploded in a roadside vehicle as the officers’ armored van passed by, government officials said.
"There was an explosion in a parked vehicle at 5:10 a.m. while a police vehicle was going to work in Diyarbakır," Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu announced.
Medical emergency teams and forensic personnel were sent to the scene.
The city governor’s office revealed no one was critically injured in the blast, however, nine people on board had been taken to the hospital for medical treatment. Diyarbakır Governor Ali Ihsan Su said seven of the wounded sustained only slight injuries while the other two were under medical supervision.
Meanwhile, Soylu on Twitter said that two suspects with alleged ties to the explosion were arrested shortly after the incident.
Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has launched a probe into the incident and announced that three more people were also detained, sources said.
The blast occurred near a livestock market some 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of the city center of Diyarbakır, the largest province in the region.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility as various terrorist groups have carried out bomb attacks in Türkiye in the past. However, after inspecting the scene with security forces, Su said the authorities believed the person who parked the car was the one who planted the bomb.
"We detained the suspect and the taxi driver who drove him (the suspect) back after the incident in the Lice district," Su noted.
Soylu also arrived at the scene of the blast immediately after the incident and confirmed to reporters that the authorities have determined the suspects who aided and abetted the perpetrator of the attack. "Our operation will expand in line with each new piece of information," he assured.
He maintained that a rental vehicle was used by the suspect and the bomb was detonated with a remote control. "It appears they planned this attack in Lice and brought the car here. Meanwhile, the interrogation is underway and all details, including what kind of bomb was used, will be shared after the investigation is concluded," Soylu explained.
"We of course anticipate such actions from the terrorist organization and we prevent most of them but let it be known that Türkiye will never allow the terrorist group, which is trying to disrupt our peace and spread fear, to triumph," Soylu asserted.
He reiterated Türkiye’s efforts to combat terrorism and said peace would reign in the country’s eastern and southeastern regions. "Just as Türkiye grows, these regions will grow too and the PKK will be eliminated," he affirmed.
Well wishes, condemnations
Following the incident, Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun condemned the attack, saying the terrorists who conducted the attack would "pay the price."
"I send my well wishes to the security personnel who were injured in the terrorist attack in Diyarbakır. The terrorists who carried out this attack will pay the price. Türkiye will continue fighting terrorism on every front," Altun said via Twitter.
Ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) Deputy Chair and spokesperson Ömer Çelik too denounced the terrorist attack on Twitter.
"We condemn the attack on our Diyarbakır police. May our officers recover soon. Diyarbakır is a city of peace and safety. Those who carried out this attack and their sponsors will get the response they deserve," Çelik assured.
Most recently, a bomb killed six people and wounded 81 people in Türkiye’s largest metropolitan city Istanbul last month for which Ankara held the terrorist organization PKK/YPG responsible.
The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization in the U.S., European Union and Türkiye, and has been waging a bloody terrorist campaign against the country for four decades, attacking both security personnel and civilians. It has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people since 1984, with its massacres peaking especially in the 1990s.