Turkey | Three killed, dozens wounded in 2 car bombings

Two car bombings targeted police stations in Turkey early yesterday, killing three people and wounding dozens, officials said.
A car bombing attack on a police station in the eastern province of Van killed a police officer and two civilians. Dozens of other people, including some 20 police officers, were wounded.
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, wounding several people, an official said.
Mahmut Varol, the deputy mayor for Elazig, told Haber Turk television the explosion occurred on the grounds of the police headquarters. Cars parked nearby also caught fire, he said.
Video footage showed a large plume of smoke rising from the area. Cars were overturned and the windows of the four-story building and its wings were blown out.
Clashes between the PKK and Turkey’s security forces resumed last year after a fragile peace process collapsed. Since then, more than 600 Turkish security personnel and thousands of PKK militants have been killed, according to state-run Anadolu Agency. Human rights groups say hundreds of civilians have also died in the clashes.
Tens of thousands of people have died in the conflict since the PKK took up arms for autonomy in southeast Turkey in 1984. Turkey and its allies consider the PKK a terrorist organization. AP