The number of wounded in the car bomb attack in Turkey’s eastern Van province has gone up to 71, local media report.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Earlier, it was reported that a blast occurred near a police station in Van at around 23:00 local time (20:00 GMT) on Wednesday, killing at least three people and injuring 40 others.
The Vatan newspaper reported that a total of 71 people, including 17 police officers, were wounded in the explosion. Three of the injured people are in critical condition. The dead include one child.
A special operation, involving air support, was launched to capture the perpetrators of the deadly act. One suspect has reportedly been detained, but the operation continues.
Earlier this week, a car bomb explosion in Turkey’s southeastern Diyarbakir Province, near a municipal traffic department, killed six people.
Tensions in Turkey escalated in July 2015, after 33 Kurdish activists were killed in a suicide blast in Suruc and two Turkish policemen were later murdered by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants. Ankara subsequently launched a military campaign against the PKK which it considers a terrorist organization.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the Wednesday explosion in Van, however, according to some local media reports, PKK is behind the deadly act.