At least six people, including a child, have been killed and many more wounded after two car bombs exploded near police stations in Eastern regions of Turkey.
Hours after a car bomb allegedly detonated by members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters, killed three people, including a child in central Ipekyolu district located in Turkey's eastern city of Van, another explosion near a police station in the eastern Turkish town of Elazig killed three police officers. More than two hundred people have been injured in the twin blasts according to the associated press.
A suspect considered to be a member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters who detonated the first bomb in Van has been arrested. The suspect who is only identified as MO by the Turkish media was caught in an air operation that was launched after the attack and subsequently taken to the main police headquarters in Van for questioning.
Mo who is said to be wounded was prevented from getting close to the police station because of barricades. The suspect parked his explosives-laden vehicle approximately 40 metres away from the facility and detonated the bomb from a safe distance using a remote control, according to national daily Hurriyet.
Authorities are still unaware about the cause of the second blast that occurred in Elazig. Footage obtained by Dogan news agency showed a large plume of smoke rising from the area of the blast. The vehicles around the blast site have burned due to the detonation of a car bomb according to Mahmut Varol, the deputy mayor of Elazig.
"The first video coming from the scene shows that there are people injured, there are ambulances at the scene, taking the injured away. Based on the images, this was a powerful explosion. Much of the building is destroyed. We see smoke in the air and a lot of people surrounding the scene looking very distraught," an Al Jazeera reporter from Gaziantep on the Turkish-Syrian border was quoted saying.
