Turkey blast: several injured as car bomb rocks cities of Elazig and Van

A car bombing attack on a police station in the eastern province of Van late Wednesday killed a police officer and two civilians. At least 73 other people — 53 civilians and 20 police officers — were wounded, officials said.

Authorities blamed that attack on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has launched a campaign of car bombings targeting police stations or roadside bomb attacks on police vehicles. Last week, PKK commander Cemil Bayik threatened increased attacks against police in Turkish cities.

Hours later, another car bombing hit police headquarters in the eastern Turkish city of Elazig early Thursday, killing at least three police office officers and wounding 146 other people, Governor Murat Zorluoglu said. At least 14 of them were in serious condition.

PHOTOS show scale of destruction in the city of Elazig following massive car bomb. PIC- Local media#Turkey pic.twitter.com/mb8mV9uTMZ

— Ahmed Kosar (@AhmedKosar1) August 18, 2016

Mahmut Varol, the deputy mayor for Elazig, told Haber Turk television that the explosion occurred on the grounds of the police headquarters and caused cars parked nearby to catch fire.

Video footage showed a large plume of smoke rising from the area. Cars were overturned and the windows of the four-storey building and its wings were blown out.

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