Four held after Turkey car bomb

Turkish police have detained four people following a bomb attack yesterday in which five people were killed, a prosecutor said today.

Durdu Kavak, chief prosecutor in the south-eastern province of Diyarbakir, said the suspects were being questioned over alleged links to the blast, in which another 68 people were injured.

A bomb-laden car exploded in predominantly Kurdish Diyarbakir city as a military service bus carrying soldiers was passing.

The blast set dozens of cars alight and shattered the windows of nearby buildings, including one packed with students preparing for university entrance exams.

Four of the dead were students, Mr Kavak said in a written statement.

After the bombing, paramilitary police seized more than 140lb of explosives in two separate operations across the country, state-run media said.

At least 30lb of C-4 plastic explosives were found in Bursa province, one of Turkey’s commercial centres, and two men who were driving a minibus where the haul was found were detained.

Another minibus with more than 110lb (50kg) of explosives and hand grenades was found by security forces in Van, on the eastern tip of Turkey near the border with Iran, state-run Anatolia news agency said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the Diyarbakir attack, but the Turkish leadership immediately blamed separatist Kurdish rebels who have carried out bombings across the country in the past.

The rebels of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, have waged a guerrilla war since 1984 for autonomy in Turkey’s south east. Diyarbakir is the biggest city in the region.

More than 30 soldiers were wounded in yesterday’s attack. It followed a series of operations by the Turkish military into the north of neighbouring Iraq, where the Kurdish rebels have bases.

The military claimed to have killed up to 175 rebels in the first cross-border assault alone. That operation, which took place on December 16, was followed by at least two other air assaults confirmed by the military and a brief incursion by ground forces.

Pro-Kurdish Firat news agency said the PKK has declared big Turkish cities targets.