11 police officers killed, 78 wounded in PKK bomb attack in Turkey's southeast

ŞIRNAK

DHA photo

Eleven police officers were killed and 78 people, including three civilians, were wounded in a terror attack carried out by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) using a bomb-laden truck in the Cizre district of the southeastern province of Şırnak early on Aug. 26.

The attack targeted a police checkpoint some 50 meters away from a riot police station in the Konak neighborhood located on the Cizre-Şırnak highway. 

The explosion caused huge damage in the riot police station building. Police blocked access to the district following the attack, while security forces conducted an operation to apprehend the fleeing militants. 

Health minister Recep Akdağ said more than 70 people were wounded in the attack with four of them in a criticial condition.

The Health Ministry also announced that 12 ambulances and two helicopters were dispatched to the scene.

Turkey’s Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) also issued a temporary gag order on the attack.
Meanwhile, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu described the bombing as a very worrying terror attack.

Kılıçdaroğlu escaped an armed attack staged by PKK militants targeting his motorcade in the Black Sea province of Artvin yesterday.