Death toll in Diyarbakir bombing rises to 11

By Hasan Namli

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey

Two victims of Friday’s bombing in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir died from their injuries on Saturday, a police official said, taking the number of people martyred in the PKK terror attack to 11.

The death toll includes at least two police officers with the remaining nine believed to be civilians. A terrorist was also killed in the explosion.

Around 100 people were wounded in the blast, which targeted a police building in the central district of Baglar during morning rush hour. A handful were still being treated in hospital, the official said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

In a statement released Saturday, the governor of Diyarbakir province rejected media claims that Daesh was responsible for the attack. On Friday, the governor’s office said the PKK had claimed responsibility.

“The statement issued by the governor’s office was based on radio chatter among the PKK terrorists,” the governorate said on Saturday.

The attack followed the arrests earlier Friday of 11 lawmakers from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) on terrorism charges. A 12th HDP lawmaker was arrested later.

The government has accused the HDP of links to the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU. The group resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July last year. Since then, PKK terrorist attacks martyred more than 700 security personnel and also claimed the lives of many civilians, including women and children, while nearly 8,000 PKK terrorists were killed in army operations.