Explosive-laden car destroys police HQ in Turkey

A large explosion has destroyed a multi-storey police headquarters in Turkey’s southeastern province of Diyarbakir, injuring at least 23 people, on January 13, 2016. (DailySabah)
A large explosion has destroyed a multi-storey police headquarters in Turkey’s southeastern province of Diyarbakir, injuring at least 23 people, on January 13, 2016. (DailySabah)
A devastating explosion has reportedly ripped through a multi-storey police headquarters in Turkey’s southeastern province of Diyarbakir, only a day after a large explosion killed ten people in Istanbul.

The incident occurred late on Wednesday when an explosive-laden car hit the headquarters in Cinar district and totally destroyed its entire facade, the Turkish Daily Sabah reported, adding that the building was then attacked with “rocket launchers and long barreled weapons.”

The huge blast also inflicted damage to nearby buildings, and set the whole headquarters on a raging fire.

According to initial reports, the explosion and the following intense exchange of fire between assailants and Turkish security forces wounded at least 23 people, including three children and six policemen.

Unconfirmed reports say several people have lost their lives in the attack, but no official death toll has been announced yet.

Backup police units and soldiers have been deployed to the blast site along with ambulances and paramedics. The injured were taken to a nearby hospital.

The Turkish media has blamed the attack on militants belonging to the Kurdistan Workers` Party (PKK).



The Tuesday blast, blamed on the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, took place in Istanbul`s historic Sultanahmet Square, a major tourist attraction, killing at least 10 foreigners, including nine German tourists. Fifteen other people also sustained injuries.

Since late July 2015, Turkey’s southeastern regions have witnessed a spike in violence amid heavy confrontations between army forces and the PKK, an outlawed group that have been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region inside Turkey since the 1980s. Ankara’s military has also been involved in an offensive against positions of the Kurdish group in neighboring Iraq.

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