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Turkey car bomb kills two soldiers in attack blamed on Kurdish rebels Car bomb kills two Turkish soldiers in attacks blamed on Kurdish rebels
(about 2 hours later)
Turkish officials say Kurdish rebels have detonated a car bomb in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish south-east that killed two soldiers and wounded four. Two soldiers have been killed and four others wounded after suspected Kurdish rebels detonated a car bomb and opened fire at a police station in the eastern Turkish town of Lice.
The Diyarbakir province governor’s office said on Sunday that the explosion occurred as a military vehicle was travelling on a road in the town of Lice. The bomb exploded late on Saturday as a vehicle carrying military police officers was travelling to intervene against Kurds who had blocked a main intersection, said the governor’s office in Diyarbakir, a mainly Kurdish province. Authorities said the military had launched an operation to capture the attackers.
Related: Turkish jets hit Kurdish militants in Iraq and Isis targets in Syria Assailants also attacked a police station in Diyarbakir, sparking a gun battle, the state-run Anadolu agency reported. No one was injured in that attack.
Its statement said “terrorists” carried out the attack, which is how Kurdish rebels are typically referred to. No group immediately claimed responsibility, however. Related: Turkey sends in jets as Syria’s agony spills over every border
The incident comes a day after Turkey launched airstrikes on Kurdish rebel camps in northern Iraq, its first such strikes since a peace process with the Kurds was launched in 2012. The incidents come a day after Turkey launched air strikes on Kurdish rebel camps in northern Iraq, its first such strikes since a peace process with the Kurds was launched in 2012.
A spokesman for the Kurdish rebel group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, said the airstrikes were likely to spell the end of a ceasefire announced in 2013. The Kurdish rebel group the Kurdistan Workers’ party, or PKK, has said the air strikes were likely to spell the end of a ceasefire announced in 2013.
Turkey has simultaneously bombed Islamic State positions near its border with Syria and carried out widespread police operations against suspected Kurdish and Isis militants and other outlawed groups inside Turkey. Hundreds of people were detained.
Tensions have been flaring with the Kurds in recent days following an Isis suicide bombing in a Turkish town near the border with Syria. Kurdish groups have blamed the government for not doing enough to prevent Isis operations. On Wednesday, the PKK claimed responsibility for the killing of two police officers in the Kurdish majority city of Sanliurfa.
Late on Saturday, the White House said Turkey had the right to defend itself against attacks by Kurdish rebels. Spokesman Alistair Baskey strongly condemned recent attacks by the PKK, which the US has designated a terrorist group, and said the PKK should renounce terrorism and resume talks with Turkey’s government.
But Baskey also said both sides should avoid violence and pursue de-escalation.