DHAKA: At least 10 police officers have been killed and several others wounded in a bomb attack on a Turkish police minibus in the country’s east.

Turkish officials blamed fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) for Tuesday’s attack, which targeted a bus carrying police working in the Igdir region, at the Dilucu border gate marking the border with Azerbaijan.

Turkey’s security forces launched an operation against Kurdish fighters after the attack, the Anatolia state news agency reported, says Al Jazeera.

The attack came two days after at least 16 Turkish troops were killed in an attack on a convoy of armored vehicles in the southeastern province of Hakkari.

The bombing was claimed by fighters belonging to the outlawed PKK.

The eastern region has witnessed a series of attacks on security targets over the past weeks.

Turkish fighter jets on Monday launched a wave of air strikes against PKK positions in northern Iraq just hours after Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu vowed to ‘wipe out’ the armed group from its mountain strongholds.

Last month, Turkey announced the start of an air campaign targeting the PKK in northern Iraq and the Islamic State (IS) of Iraq and Syria group in the north of Syria.

The PKK stepped up its attacks in the country in July after a ceasefire between the two sides effectively ended.

BDST: 1747 HRS, SEPT 08, 2015
RR