11 policemen killed in Turkey attack claimed by PKK

Eleven Turkish police officers were killed and 78 people injured on Friday in a suicide truck bombing claimed by militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), three days into a twopronged Turkish offensive against jihadists and Kurdish militia in neighbouring Syria.

The blast almost destroyed the police headquarters in the southeastern town of Cizre, just north of the Syrian border.

“Our sacrifice team staged a comprehensive action in Cizre that left dozens of police dead,” said the PKK, which is known for exaggerating tolls. The attack retaliated for the “continued isolation” of its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan and the “lack of information” about his whereabouts, it said.

The explosion went off hours after the Turkish military shelled positions held by Kurdish militia inside Syria. Turkey says its three-day-old operation in Syria is aimed both at Islamic State and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units militia leading the fight against IS in the area.