Articles About Terrorist Activities

Hurriyet

Sixteen people, including seven policemen and three soldiers were injured Thursday in the western Turkish city of Izmir in an explosion in a minibus carrying officers, authorities said.

The car, parked on the side of a road in a residential area in the Aegean city, exploded at around 7:45 am (0445 GMT) just as a military car and a police bus were approaching it, the Izmir governor’s office said.

“The explosion occurred in a vacant car left at the blast scene. We believe the blast was the result of plastic explosives set off by remote control,” Governor Cahit Kirac was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying.

A colonel was among the three soldiers hurt in the blast in Konak district of Izmir when a parked car exploded as a minibus carrying police officers passed by, he said.

The windows of nearby buildings and cars were shattered in the blast, which locals described as being very powerful. 

Transport Minister Binali Yildirim suggested that the blast was the work of the outlawed separatist PKK. The Anatolian Agency cited Yildirim as saying the outlawed PKK separatists were focusing on a bombing campaign in urban centers since military operations had crippled their activities in the country’s southeast.

Turkey, provided with intelligence by the United States, has stepped up military action against the PKK since December.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey as well as the most of the international community, including the U.S. and the EU.

Source: www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/domestic/9711725.asp?gid=243&sz=84733