Four held after Turkey bomb
Friday, 04 Jan 2008 10:48
Bomb blast in Kurdish area of Turkey kills four and injures scores more
Four people have been arrested after a car bomb killed five and injured at least 68 in the south-eastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir yesterday.
The four were being questioned by police in custody after the explosion in the early hours of yesterday evening apparently targeted a military vehicle.
At least three children are believed to be among the dead from the blast, which has been widely blamed on the militant branch of the Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK).
The terrorist organisation's constant threat to towns in the Kurdish region in Turkey resulted in Turkish warplanes bombing PKK bases in neighbouring Iraq last month.
A number of vehicles were on fire and emergency services attended the dead and wounded after yesterday's explosion.
Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking from the capital city Ankara, blamed "terrorists" for the strike.
"Terrorism has reared its ugly head again. But these incidents will not affect our determination to fight terrorism both at home and abroad," the Turkish Daily News newspaper quoted him as saying.
The bombings and the wider PKK threat are expected to be high on the agenda when Mr Erdogan meets US president George Bush at the White House next week.
The explosion is the latest in a long line of similar attacks in the ongoing conflict between local government military authorities and insurgents fighting for Kudish independence.
In 2006 a bomb blast at a bus stop in Diyarbakir killed one person and injured 13. Another explosion in the same year killed ten and wounded 14.