PKK terrorist behind Diyarbakir bomb killed in Turkey

By Kaan Bozdogan

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey

One of the terrorists behind a car bomb attack in March that martyred eight police officers in Diyarbakir, southeast Turkey, was killed by security forces Friday, a military source said.

Mervan Erdem was among five PKK terrorists killed in a joint operation by the police and the armed forces in Diyarbakir province’s Lice district, the source said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

A car bomb targeting a police shuttle bus in the Baglar neighborhood of the provincial capital Diyarbakir killed eight officers and wounded 29 people, including 14 police, on March 31.

Erdem is believed to have rented the car used in the attack and driven it to Diyarbakir on the day of the bombing.

He was also named as being responsible for another attack in Diyarbakir on May 10 in which 45 people were wounded.

The PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU -- resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July last year. Since then, nearly 600 security personnel have been martyred and more than 7,700 PKK terrorists neutralized.