An explosion, believed to be a car bomb, has struck a police checkpost in the centre of the Southeast Turkish city of Van. Although there is no official word on fatalities, some unconfirmed sources suggest that around 40 people have been injured in the explosion.
The blast reportedly took place between the ruling AKP (otherwise known as the Justice and Development Party) party's headquarters and the governor's office. The state-run Anadolu news agency quoted Van Police Chief Suat Ekici as saying that two of the wounded were in critical condition. Besir Atalay, a member of parliament from the ruling AKP party, told private news channel NTV via telephone that two police officers were among the wounded.
The footage of the scene showed smoke rising from a damaged building and firefighters attempting to extinguish a blaze. Ambulances were dispatched to treat those caught up in the blast.
Parliamentarian Burhan Kayaturk was quoted saying to the local media that there were no fatalities and that the AKP building was well-secured and did not suffer much damage.
The private Dogan news agency said an explosives-laden vehicle was detonated about 200 meters (650 feet) from the governor's office in a commercial district where the AKP municipal offices are located. The explosion occurred Monday around 10:50 a.m. local time on the first day of Eid al-Adha, an Islamic holiday.
Unconfirmed reports also suggest that the bomb was detonated by the outlawed Kurdish PKK militants, who carried out attacks against Turkish security forces in Van earlier this year.
On Aug. 17, 2016 an attack in central Van on a police station killed 3 people and injured 73 others.
On Sept. 4, 2016, a mortar attack was launched on a police checkpoint in the Edremit district of Van Province, but there were no injuries.
The suspected attack came after a summer of violence in the region, which borders the territory once held by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
This is a developing story.
