Probe launched into Diyarbakır Municipality over slack response to PKK attack

DİYARBAKIR

AA photo

The Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation into the municipal firefighting administration over its allegedly slack response to a fire caused by a deadly outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) attack in the Çınar district on Jan. 13.

The probe was launched on Jan. 18 into the firefighting administration of the Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality, which is ruled by the Kurdish problem-focused Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

The Jan. 13 PKK attack in the Çınar district targeted a police post and killed one policemen and five civilians, including three children. The bomb attack also injured 39 people.

Two suspects detained on suspicion of having links to the attack were arrested on Jan. 18 on charges of “homicide by bombing or using nuclear, biological weapons” and “being a member of an armed terrorist organization.”

The PKK claimed responsibility on Jan. 16 for the Çınar attack and apologized for killing civilians.

“It is clear that civilians should never be our target, in accordance with the general line and political objectives of our movement. The target of this action was the security forces,” the PKK said in a statement reported by the Fırat News Agency, which is affiliated with the PKK.