WEB DESK
At least 11 policemen have been killed and 78 injured in a truck bomb attack at a police headquarters in southeastern Cizre Town in Turkey.
According to the local Governor’s office, the bomb was exploded at a checkpoint outside the headquarters today. The blast was followed by an armed battle between the police and attackers.
Predominantly-Kurdish Cizre is in Turkey’s Sirnak province and it borders both Syria and Iraq. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim blamed the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party rebels for the attack.
The latest attack in Cizre comes two days after Turkish forces launched an unprecedented ground and air offensive into neighbouring Syria, targetting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and Syrian Kurdish fighters.
Following the attack, Health Minister Recep Akdag had told reporters in Istanbul that the blast injured over 70 people, leaving some in a critical condition.
Security sources said earlier that the terror attack targeted the checkpoint some 50 meters from riot police unit headquarters in Sirnak’s Cizre town.
The blast caused extensive damage to the police building. Nearby houses and workplaces were also damaged.
Security forces are currently searching for the perpetrators.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s Radio and Television Supreme Council has banned all broadcasts about the deadly attack in the interest of public safety and an ongoing police investigation.