At least 11 killed and dozens injured in car bomb blast at police checkpoint

At least 11 police officers have been killed in a suicide bomb attack on a checkpoint in Turkey. Dozens of other people were injured in the blast, which happened near the headquarters of an anti-riot police force in the town of Cizre. Rebels from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known as PKK, were blamed for the attack in which a truck laden with explosives was driven into the checkpoint. “This attack, which comes at a time when Turkey is engaged in an intense struggle against terrorist organizations both within and outside its borders, only serves to increase our determination as a country and a nation,” president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

No terrorist organization can take the Turkish Republic hostage. We will give these scoundrels every response they deserve.

Prime minister Binali Yildirim

Cizre is in Sirnak, a province that borders both Syria and Iraq and has a largely Kurdish population. The PKK, widely regarded as a terrorist organisation, has been involved in almost daily clashes in the region since July 2015. In the latest incident, pictures showed the police building had been completely gutted by the power of the blast, reduced to a shell surrounded by a pile of rubble. Nearby buildings sustained severe damage and some were still on fire, TV footage showed. A dozen ambulances and two helicopters were sent to the scene.

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