ANF News, published in Kurdish Question, Aug 26, 2016
The Turkish military headquarters of special operations police, police intelligence and riot police directorate was completely destroyed as a result of a bombing in Cizre’s Konak neighborhood Friday morning.
While local sources report that dozens of police were killed and dozens of others wounded in the action, Turkish official sources report 11 police dead and 78 wounded.
It is thought the attack was carried out with a truck-bomb by the People’s Defence Forces (HPG) guerrillas of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK).
More than 300 civilians were killed by Turkish state forces in Cizre in the past year, at least 100 of them burned in basements.
Update: A broadcast ban has been issued on this morning’s bombing in Cizre which targeted three police targets in the Konak neighborhood.
The broadcast ban by the Turkish Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTÜK) was reportedly issued to hide the losses suffered by Turkish police forces.
Update: People’s Defence Forces (HPG) guerrillas of the PKK have claimed the attack and said it was a ‘sacrificial action’ against the continued isolation of their leader Abdullah Öcalan. The statement also claims that “tens of police” died in the attack.
11 feared killed, scores injured as car bomb explodes at police HQ in Turkey’s southeast
RT.com, Friday, Aug 26, 2016
Eleven people were killed and 78 more wounded when a bomb blast hit a police station in the city of Cizre in the southeast of Turkey, according to local broadcaster NTV. Turkish Health Minister, Recep Akdag, said over 70 were injured while the death toll remained unclear.
Photos and videos coming from the southeastern city in Turkey’s Sirnak Province show destroyed buildings and ambulances rushing to the scene. The police station was completely destroyed by the blast, NTV broadcaster reported.
Other less powerful blasts occurred at an arms depot nearby, where several buildings were damaged, according to NTV.
The blast was caused by a suicide truck attack carried out by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the local governor’s office said in a statement.
PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization in Turkey, later claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a website linked to the organization.
Cizre is in Sirnak, a province that borders both Syria and Iraq and has a largely Kurdish population.
On Wednesday, Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield, sending its troops into northern Syria ostensibly to take the town of Jarablus from IS. The Turkish operation wasn’t authorized by the Syrian government, however. Kurdish YPG command has denounced the offensive, saying Turkey is targeting the Kurds “more than ISIS.”
In April, a human rights group in Turkey sent a report to the UN detailing serious human rights violations committed by the Turkish military during its campaign against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party in the country’s southeast, as well as during curfews imposed in the region by Ankara.
At that time, several activists from major human right watchdogs went to Cizre and witnessed the aftermath of the military operations, which left the city devastated.
Related readings:
‘UN should open fact-finding mission on human rights violations in Cizre’, RT.com, April 29, 2016
Turkey: City of Cizre is a big cemetery, report on BBC Turkish by Hatice Kamer in Cizre, translated for Green Left Weekly, March 4, 2016
