Some 13 soldiers were killed, 56 wounded in attack near Erciyes University in the central Turkish city of Kayseri early on Dec.17, Hurriyet Daily News reports, citing the Turkish Armed Forces.
A bus transporting soldiers was hit by an explosion near Erciyes University in the central Turkish city of Kayseri early on December17, wounding an unknown number of people, security sources said.
Ambulances were sent to the area after the explosion, the sources said. Turkey’s Dogan news agency said the blast hit the bus as it drove past a car believed to be packed with explosives.
Hospital sources in Kayseri confirmed that people had been killed and wounded after an explosion hit a bus there on Dec.17, although they were not able to give any details about the death toll.
Broadcaster NTV said the bus was carrying off-duty soldiers and civilians when it was hit by the blast near a bus stop at the campus of Erciyes University.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister, Veysi Kaynak said blast that hit bus was a car bomb and it targeted bus carrying soldiers.
Kaynak also said, blast resembled attack in Beshiktash in Istanbul, confirming that there were wounded but unsure on number of deaths.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s media watchdog, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), imposed a temporary ban that includes live broadcast from the scene, footage taken from the time of the blast and afterwards, and images of bodies, the agency said in a statement.
An investigation to the attack is underway.
The blast came a week after a twin bombing outside an Istanbul soccer stadium killed more than 40 people and wounded more than 100, an attack claimed by Kurdish militants.