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Turkey: PKK kills 12 in 3 attacks

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The Kurdistan Workers’ Party has been engaged for 32 years in an armed conflict against Turkey for cultural and political rights and self-determination for the Kurdish people.

The Kurdish PKK group carried out three bombings in Turkey on Wednesday, killing at least 12 people.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party launched simultaneous bomb attacks targeting police vehicles in the city of Diyarbakir and the town of Kiziltepe, killing eight people. A few hours earlier, four Turkish soldiers were killed in a PKK attack near the border with Iraq.

In Kiziltepe, the PKK targeted a bus carrying police, killing three and wounding some 25, including at least five children aged between two and five.

In Diyarbakir, a car bomb at a checkpoint over the Tigris River killed five civilians and wounded 12.

On the border with Iraq, PKK operative reportedly set off improvised explosive devices and fired rockets at Turkish soldiers, killing four and injuring nine.

Wednesday’s attacks came as Turkey is still trying to recuperate from last month’s failed coup attempt, which killed some 270 people, and a string of attacks carried out by the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group.

US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter stated Wednesday that the US stands “shoulder to shoulder” with its Turkish ally in the wake of the attacks.

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“The United States remains committed to cooperating closely with Turkey — bilaterally, within the Counter-ISIL Coalition, and within NATO — in order to defend our nations against common threats,” he said.

Earlier this week, PKK commander Cemil Bayik threatened attacks against Turkish police.

More than 600 Turkish security personnel and thousands of PKK fighters have been killed since the cease-fire between Turkey and the Kurdish group failed last year and the hostilities resumed. Human rights groups say hundreds of civilians have also been killed.

Turkey and its allies consider the PKK a terror organization.

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News
AP contributed to this report.