TURKEY: DEADLY EXPLOSION ROCKS MAJOR KURDISH CITY OF DIYARBAKIR

Reports
say dozens wounded after car bomb went off in Baglar district near police
station where arrested pro-Kurdish lawmakers were held

Smoke after an explosion in Diyarbakir, the major city in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish south-east.

Smoke after an explosion in Diyarbakir, the major city in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish south-east. 

A car bomb has reportedly killed one person and wounded around 30 others in Turkey’s south-eastern city of Diyarbakir.

The attack followed the overnight arrests of 11 lawmakers from the Peoples’ Democratic party (HDP), whose base is largely drawn from Kurds in the region, as well as leftists and progressives throughout Turkey.

The provincial governor’s office said a car bomb went off around 8am on Friday. The office said in a written statement that Kurdistan Workers party (PKK) militants were believed responsible.

It was not immediately clear what caused the blast in the Baglar district but the explosion resounded through the city and ambulances rushed to the scene.

Turkey has been plagued by a series of deadly bomb attacks in the past 18 months.

The blast came hours after leaders of a pro-Kurdish party were detained by police along with nine other legislators.

It occurred near a police station where the lawmakers apprehended in Diyarbakir had been taken, a security source said.

Police overnight arrested the joint leaders of the HDP, parliament’s second-biggest opposition grouping, over a terrorism investigation.

The armed Kurdistan Workers party (PKK) have waged a three-decade insurgency in Turkey’s south-east.