Death toll rises to eight in Diyarbakır bomb attack

DİYARBAKIR – Doğan News Agency

DHA photo

The death toll of a car bomb attack that targeted police carried out by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır on March 31 has risen to eight after a deputy police chief succumbed to his injuries at a hospital on April 5.

Deputy police chief Tamer Aktaş was heavily wounded in the attack and later transferred to Diyarbakır Military Hospital. However, Aktaş succumbed to his injuries on April 5, increasing the death toll to eight.

Aktaş will be laid to rest on April 5 in his hometown Gümüşhane following a funeral ceremony in the Diyarbakır Security General Directorate.

Initially, seven police officers were killed and more than 27 people injured, including 13 police officers, in the attack near a police shuttle in the Bağlar district of Diyarbakır on March 31.  

A PKK suspect, who appeared in video footage as he parked the car loaded with 300 kilograms of bombs near a bus terminal, was arrested in Kocaköy, a Diyarbakır district on April 2.

The police had detained nine suspects for links to the terror attack.