Seven people were killed, and 45 were wounded after an explosion carried out with a bomb-laden vehicle by the PKK terrorists rocked southeastern Diyarbakır province on Monday.
Seven people were killed and 45 others were wounded after PKK car bombing rocked southeastern Diyarbakır province on Monday.
According to a statement by the Diyarbakır Governorate, five of those killed in the attack were police officers while the other two were civilians. The governorate announced that one of the deceased civilian was a child. 45 people, including 11 police officers, were wounded in the attack, with 16 people still receiving treatment as of late Monday.
The explosion took place at 1:00 p.m. local time and targeted the regional Traffic Control Station building on the Bismil highway in Diyarbakır.
Ambulances were dispatched to the scene of the explosion. Many civilians were in the building when the explosion took place, eyewitnesses said.
Footage on television showed the explosion left the building's concrete frame crumpled and twisted metal was exposed as the windows were entirely blown out and its roof partially collapsed. The explosion left a 5-meter-wide, 10-meter-deep crater.
Nearby gas stations and vehicles were also seriously damaged in the explosion.
Security forces reportedly clashed with PKK terrorists for a while after the attack and launched an extensive operation after attack.
The attack came on the 32nd anniversary of the PKK first attack in the Eruh district of southeastern Siirt province and the Şemdinli district of southeastern Hakkari province in 1984.
The PKK has long attacked civilians during its armed campaign.
On Saturday, the PKK killed Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Youth Branch Chairman Naci Adıyaman, who was abducted on Friday along with his brother in the Beytüşşebap district of the southeastern Şırnak province.
This is what the building looked like prior to the brutal terrorist attack: