Car bomb kills five in Turkey

A powerful car bomb exploded Thursday near a military base in Diyarbakir killing five people AFP reports. The agency quoted local hospital officials who said that about 70 others were injured in the explosion. Car bomb kills five in Turkey The blast occurred as a military vehicle was passing on a road in the city centre, some 100 meters from a military base and billets, governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu told reporters. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the U.S. embassy in Ankara condemned the blast as a "terrorist act." Diyarbakir is a hotbed of Kurdish militancy and the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, is active in the area. Two of the five victims were high school students attending private lessons at a nearby building. The car bomb was set off by remote control and a security operation was under way in the city to catch the perpetrators, governor Mutlu said as bomb experts looked for clues at the scene. Several of the injured were badly wounded. Those hurt included about 30 soldiers as well as civilians and high school students, officials said. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack, but the PKK has repeatedly targeted Diyarbakir in its 23-year separatist campaign. "Terrorism has reared its ugly head again. But these incidents will not affect our determination to fight terrorism both at home and abroad," Erdogan said in Ankara in televised remarks. The US embassy condemned the blast as "a horrible example of the meaningless tragedies caused by terrorism." The United States "reiterates its determination to stand by Turkey in the struggle against all kinds of terrorism," the statement said. The PKK recently threatened retaliation following Turkish air strikes on its bases in neighboring northern Iraq, conducted with US intelligence assistance. Police said they were looking for two people witnesses saw flee the scene, but it was not immediately clear whether they were suspects. The blast destroyed the military vehicle and five cars and ignited a large blaze later extinguished by firefighters. Police threw a security cordon around the scene and kept reporters away, saying this was a precaution against a possible second explosion. The blast came as the Turkish army stepped up action against PKK rebels who use neighboring northern Iraq as a springboard for attacks on Turkish targets. The general staff has confirmed three air strikes on PKK positions in northern Iraq since December 16, in addition to a cross-border land operation to stop a group of rebels from infiltrating Turkey. Officials in northern Iraq have reported two other air raids. At least 150 militants have been killed and more than 200 PKK positions destroyed in the raids so far, according to the Turkish military. PKK rebels have claimed responsibility for several bomb attacks in Diyarbakir and other major cities in the past. Seven people were injured in June when a bomb exploded near a bus stop in central Diyarbakir. Officials blamed the attack on the PKK. In 2006, 10 people, including seven children, were killed and 14 injured in a bomb blast at a crowded city park, which officials blamed on the PKK. The PKK's campaign for Kurdish self-rule in the southeast has claimed more than 37,000 lives since 1984 when the rebel group took up arms. The scene of the explosion (Tanjug)

Car bomb kills five in Turkey

The blast occurred as a military vehicle was passing on a road in the city centre, some 100 meters from a military base and billets, governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu told reporters.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the U.S. embassy in Ankara condemned the blast as a "terrorist act."

Diyarbakir is a hotbed of Kurdish militancy and the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, is active in the area.

Two of the five victims were high school students attending private lessons at a nearby building.

The car bomb was set off by remote control and a security operation was under way in the city to catch the perpetrators, governor Mutlu said as bomb experts looked for clues at the scene.

Several of the injured were badly wounded. Those hurt included about 30 soldiers as well as civilians and high school students, officials said.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack, but the PKK has repeatedly targeted Diyarbakir in its 23-year separatist campaign.

"Terrorism has reared its ugly head again. But these incidents will not affect our determination to fight terrorism both at home and abroad," Erdogan said in Ankara in televised remarks.

The US embassy condemned the blast as "a horrible example of the meaningless tragedies caused by terrorism."

The United States "reiterates its determination to stand by Turkey in the struggle against all kinds of terrorism," the statement said.

The PKK recently threatened retaliation following Turkish air strikes on its bases in neighboring northern Iraq, conducted with US intelligence assistance.

Police said they were looking for two people witnesses saw flee the scene, but it was not immediately clear whether they were suspects.

The blast destroyed the military vehicle and five cars and ignited a large blaze later extinguished by firefighters.

Police threw a security cordon around the scene and kept reporters away, saying this was a precaution against a possible second explosion.

The blast came as the Turkish army stepped up action against PKK rebels who use neighboring northern Iraq as a springboard for attacks on Turkish targets.

The general staff has confirmed three air strikes on PKK positions in northern Iraq since December 16, in addition to a cross-border land operation to stop a group of rebels from infiltrating Turkey.

Officials in northern Iraq have reported two other air raids.

At least 150 militants have been killed and more than 200 PKK positions destroyed in the raids so far, according to the Turkish military.

PKK rebels have claimed responsibility for several bomb attacks in Diyarbakir and other major cities in the past.

Seven people were injured in June when a bomb exploded near a bus stop in central Diyarbakir. Officials blamed the attack on the PKK.

In 2006, 10 people, including seven children, were killed and 14 injured in a bomb blast at a crowded city park, which officials blamed on the PKK.

The PKK's campaign for Kurdish self-rule in the southeast has claimed more than 37,000 lives since 1984 when the rebel group took up arms.