For the second time in 24 hours, Turkish police were targeted Wednesday by terrorists in a car bombing, this time at a police station in a town on the Syrian border.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters that three people were killed in the attack, which took place at around 11 am local time, including a police officer and two civilians and more than 30 were wounded in the town of Midyat, in the southeastern province of Mardin, according to Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News.
The bomb-laden vehicle arrived at the police headquarters compound from the direction of the southeastern province of Batman carrying 500 kilograms of explosives, authorities said. The driver attempted to enter the headquarters compound but was stopped by police and exploded when police opened fire to block the vehicle, according to the Dogan News Agency.
Surrounding buildings were damaged by the blast and the flames that erupted.
Yildirim bluntly said the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist group was behind the attack.
“This has not surprized us. Their circle is slowly tightening. The fight against terrorism is tough and requires determination. There are killers in the guise of humans in front of us and behind us,” Yildirim told reporters in Istanbul.
On Tuesday seven police officers and four civilians were killed in Istanbul and 36 others were injured in an attack targeting a police bus heading for duty at Istanbul University.
No group has yet come forward to claim responsibility for that attack, nor for Wednesday’s car bombing in Midyat.