A Turkish army tank. (Credit: AFP file)
ISTANBUL — One police officer was killed late Monday when a bomb exploded near a residence that houses police in the southern Turkish province of Mersin, while a second officer was wounded, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said.
He said the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was responsible for the attack, which occurred around 10:40 p.m., and that two women who carried out the attacks died during the explosions.
The two attackers first shot at the police officer on duty and later detonated bombs that were attached to them, he said.
The attack took place in the Mezitli district of Mersin, state-owned Anadolu Agency said.
The PKK launched an insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict. The PKK is regarded as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
Reporting by Yesim Dikmen and Ece Toksabay; Editing by Sandra Maler and Edmund Klamann.