HANI, DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) – A vehicle laden with explosives rammed into a gendarmerie base in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast late on Monday (April 11), killing one soldier and wounding 47 others, the military said on Tuesday (April 12).
Thirty-nine soldiers and eight civilians were wounded in the attack in the town of Hani, north of the provincial capital of Diyarbakir, according to a written statement.
About 20 ambulances rushed to the scene, the military said. Witnesses described the force of the blast as so strong that windows shattered and buildings around town shook.
Southeastern Turkey has been rocked by violence since July when the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) abandoned a two-year ceasefire with the government and the Turkish army re-launched security operations. Thousands of militants and hundreds of civilians and soldiers have been killed since.
The government has refused to return to the negotiating table and has vowed to “liquidate” the PKK, considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.
More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict since the PKK took up arms in 1984.