The overnight blast ripped the facade off the station in the small town of Cinar. A Reuters reporter saw nearby windows blown out, shop shutters mangled and streets covered in debris.
The mainly Kurdish region has suffered a surge in violence since a two-year ceasefire between the state and Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters collapsed, reviving an insurgency that has killed 40,000 people over three decades.
The conflict is a challenge to Turkey’s security forces, which are fighting on two fronts. On Tuesday, 10 German tourists were killed in Istanbul in a suicide attack by a suspected IS militant.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said a five-month-old baby was among the dead in Cinar, vowing in a speech that Turkey would continue its fight against “every kind of terror”.
Security sources said a 1-year-old and a 5-year-old had also died, along with a police officer and an unnamed fifth person, and 39 people were wounded, including six police.
PKK fighters attacked the police station and adjoining accommodation at around 11:30 pm (2130 GMT), the provincial governor’s office said in a statement.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. As rescue workers continued to search for bodies, the Reuters reporter saw a sixth body being pulled from the wreckage. A security source said it was that of a policeman’s wife. “It was a really loud blast, as if it was in our house,” said Ali Devran, a resident in his 30s. “We went and helped carry the wounded to ambulances. Some had suffered burns.” — Reuters
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