Car bomb hits army outpost in Turkey, killing 3

ISTANBUL – A vehicle laden with explosives hit an army outpost in southeastern Turkey on Saturday, killing three people, according to a statement published by the governor’s office.

The Mardin province governor’s office said two soldiers and a civilian woman were killed in the Saturday attack at a military outpost in the town of Cevizlik. The statement also stated seven people were wounded, including three people who are in critical condition.

The Turkish Armed Forces also published a statement about the attack that put the number of wounded soldiers at 12, with one soldier in critical condition.

It wasn’t immediately clear why the two accounts differed.

Both statements blamed “the separatist terror organization” for the attack, a description used by Turkey for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or the PKK. Security forces have begun operations to apprehend the attackers.

Clashes between Turkey and Kurdish militants resumed nearly a year ago after a tenuous cease-fire between Turkey and the PKK collapsed. Airstrikes regularly target PKK positions in Turkey and northern Iraq, while fighting and curfews continue in several southeastern towns.

In a daily activity statement published on its website, the Turkish Army said it “neutralized 17 separatist terror organization members” in Hakkari province and two militants in Van province on Friday.

The renewed conflict between the two sides has led to the death of nearly 600 security personnel and more than 5,000 Kurdish militants, reports Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency. An unknown number of civilians have also been killed and thousands displaced.

A 14-year-old child was killed and one injured while grazing their animals when an improvised explosive device placed by the PKK detonated in the eastern province of Agri, according to the governor’s office there.

Turkey, the U.S. and the EU consider PKK a terrorist organization.