50 injured by car bomb in east Turkey

Kurdish militants are accused of detonating a car bomb that injured 50 people in eastern Turkey.

Turkish authorities are accusing Kurdish militants of detonating a car bomb that wounded 50 people in front of the ruling party's municipal headquarters Monday in the eastern city of Van.

Van Governor Ibrahim Tasyapan told state-run Anadolu news agency that 46 civilians and four police officers were wounded in the attack at a police check point outside the party offices.

Tasyapan said two of the wounded were in serious condition, but he did not specify if they are officers or civilians.

An earlier statement by the governor's office alleged the bombers were affiliated with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

Hundreds of people have been killed and injured in Turkey in recent months in attacks the government says were carried out by Kurdish militants or the Islamic State group.

The governor's office said security forces are working to apprehend the perpetrators of the car-bombing.

The attack came a day after Ankara replaced 28 elected mayors with appointees, mostly in the Kurdish dominated east of the country.

Turkey's pro-Kurdish party, the country's main opposition party and the United States all have criticised the move.

Zahir Soganda, chairman of the ruling party's Van office, told the Anadolu agency he was aware that threats of such an attack had been made after the mayors were replaced.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told Anadolu agency that security forces had taken precautions to prevent violent attacks during the nine-day Eid al-Adha festival.

Turkey's broadcasting authority, RTUK, imposed a temporary ban on coverage of the attack.


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Source: AAP


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