Turkey: Police officers killed in Bingol blast

Two police officers have been killed and 19 people wounded after a car bomb exploded near a passing police vehicle in the eastern Turkish province of Bingol, according to security sources.

The bomb, believed to be planted by fighters from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), was detonated near the district governor’s office, the security sources told Reuters news agency.

Six police officers were among the injured, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported. 

2 #Turkish Police officers dead,17 civilians injured in an #PKK's VBIED attack in #Genç ,#Bingol,#Turkey
📸 pic.twitter.com/gXQAbrEgCo

— Mete Sohtaoğlu (@metesohtaoglu) October 23, 2016

The explosion also damaged several offices and residences, Anadolu said.

Hours before the bombing, PKK fighters had attempted an overnight attack  on the district governor’s home, using long-range rifles and rocket launchers,Turkey’s private Dogan news agency reported.

INTERACTIVE: Timeline of attacks in Turkey

Two fighters made it to the door of the house, but fled when police returned fire, it said.

Turkey’s largely Kurdish southeast has been hit by waves of violence since the collapse of a ceasefire between the state and the PKK last year.

The PKK is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and Europe.

More than 40,000 people, most of them Kurds, have died in violence since the PKK first took up arms against the state three decades ago.