One policeman, five civilians killed in PKK attack in southeastern Turkey

Six people, including three children and a police officer, were killed late Jan. 13 when a car bomb exploded near a district police post in the southeastern province of Diyarbak?r, officials have said.

A 5-month-old baby, a 1-year-old toddler and a 5-year-old child were among those killed in the attack. Thirty-three people, including six police officers, were injured in the attack allegedly carried out by members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the Ç?nar district at around 11:30 p.m., the Diyarbak?r Governor's Office said. The six people killed in the attack were identified as police officer Mehmet ?enol Çiftçi; his 5-month-old daughter Mevlüde ?rem Çiftçi; Esra Köse Ba?aran, the wife of a police officer; Lokman Aç?kgöz; his 5-year-old son, Sad?k Efe Aç?kgöz, and his 1-year-old daughter, Ecrin Aç?kgöz.   

 
Police detained two suspects in connection with the attack. 

According to reports, PKK militants staged an attack against the police headquarters and the adjacent police dorms by detonating a car laden with explosives. The outlawed group simultaneously started a gun fight with long-barreled weapons and rocket launchers, leading to clashes as police returned fire. Clashes continued for some 40 minutes. While the police headquarters and dorms suffered from substantial damage, a nearby two-story house collapsed with the power of the explosion. 

Thirty-nine people, including women and children, were wounded in the attack. The relatives of two police officers who were staying in the dormitory, in addition to three civilians who were trapped in the wreckage of the nearby house lost their lives, the Diyarbak?r Governor's Office said in a statement.

"Two police relatives residing in the dormitories...