Two officers died and another was injured when a bomb planted on the road was detonated by members of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as they were riding in an armored police vehicle in the predominantly Kurdish southeastern province of Van on Monday.
The incident took place nearby a primary school in the Hacıbekir neighborhood at around 11 a.m. According to reports, it was a handmade bomb that caused the explosion and it was detonated by remote control while the police vehicle was passing by. While the two officers died at the scene, their wounded colleague was taken to a hospital.
A large-scale operation, backed by helicopters, was launched by the police in order to capture the assailants.
The incident followed Sunday’s bomb attack by the PKK on a military post in Diyarbakır, another southeastern province. A vehicle loaded with explosives in front of a militaty post caused a number of people to be injured. On the same day, a first lieutenant was killed in PKK attack on a military base in the Uludere district of the Şırnak province at around 9:00 pm. The soldier was first injured and taken to a hospital by a helicopter, however, he later lost his life.
The PKK is designated as a “terrorist organization” by the United States (US) and the European Union (EU), as well as Turkey. The 32-year-old conflict, which has claimed more than 40,000 lives, halted in March 2013 as part of the settlement process initiated between the PKK and the Turkish government. However, the PKK ended the ceasefire in the summer of 2015.