Ankara (AFP) - Kurdish PKK rebels while claiming responsibility Saturday for a car bombing in southeast Turkey this week apologised for having killed civilians and especially three children in the attack.

Two civilians were killed in the initial bombing near a police station by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the town of Cinar, and three more lost their lives when a building collapsed due to damage caused by the blast, local officials said after the attack on Thursday.

Security sources told AFP the victims in the building collapse were a five-month-old baby, a boy aged five and a girl aged one.

One policeman also died in the attack.

"It is clear that civilians should never be our target in accordance with the general line and political objectives of our movement. The target of this action was the security forces," the PKK said in a statement reported by the pro-Kurdish news agency Firat.

"In spite of our efforts not to hurt civilians, we want to convey our sadness that several of them died and we extend our condolences to their families," added the PKK while also promising to continue attacks against Turkish forces

The PKK launched an insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984, initially fighting for Kurdish independence although it now presses more for greater autonomy and rights for the country's largest ethnic minority.

A new upsurge of violence between the security forces and the PKK erupted in July following attacks blamed on Islamic extremists, shattering a fragile two-and-a-half-year truce.