Village guard captured with explosive material in his bag in Turkey’s Mardin

MARDİN

A village guard has been caught with explosive material in his bag in the southeastern province of Mardin, the same one used in an attack on Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district that killed 46 people in 2016, daily Habertürk reported.

Anti-terror police began an operation against outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) suspects in Mardin after gathering intelligence about the delivery of an explosive material from Syria by the group to be used in an attack in Turkey.

The suspect was detected carrying explosives by the police in the province’s Nusaybin district.

When he noticed police officers following him, he started running away. He later threw away his bag filled with the explosive material.

Following an intense police chase, two suspects were captured. They were later detained.

Police revealed that one of the suspects was a village guard in the southeastern province of Şırnak.

Police seized five kilograms of PETN type of plastic explosive material, 20 of another type of explosive and 14 walkie-talkies in the suspect’s bag.

The PETN type explosive material was reportedly used in the bombing outside Beşiktaş’s Vodafone Arena Stadium that killed 46 people on Dec. 10, 2016.

A bomb-laden vehicle ran into riot police following a match between Beşiktaş and Bursaspor on Dec. 10, 2016. Just 45 seconds later, a suicide bomber blew himself up at Maçka Park just across from the stadium. Some 37 police officers and seven civilians were killed in the bombings.

The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), an offshoot linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), claimed responsibility for the attack that wounded more than 150 people.