Turkey confirms 13 missing were killed in PKK blast in Diyarbakır

DİYARBAKIR

AFP photo

Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala confirmed on May 17 that a total of 16 civilians were killed in an attack by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), as 13 of the victims who went missing after the incident have also been confirmed dead.



The Sarıkamış neighborhood in the Sur district of the southeastern Diyarbakır province was hit by an explosion that occurred when a huge quantity of explosives in a truck driven by PKK militants was detonated.



“They massacred our brothers here. An attack that would destroy a village was carried out. These kinds of attacks are the attacks that are targeting 79 million people’s peace. In Turkey, again 79 million of people are determined to fight against terrorists, break free from the shackles of this terror and continue on its way. No one should think they can discourage those left behind by attacking our people brutally,” said Ala as he participated in a funeral for the victims in the Tanışık village of Diyarbakır on May 17.



Three civilians were confirmed to have died in the immediate aftermath of the detonation, which also left 23 people wounded.



“It is thought that an explosive-laden dump truck was detonated in Dürümlü by the members of the separatist terrorist organization [PKK] after it was followed by the villagers as a result of an argument between the militants and the villagers while the truck was passing through the Tanışık village,” a statement by the Diyarbakır Governor’s Office read on May 13.



The target of the bomb-laden truck was a nearby gendarmerie station and the truck was brought to the Tanışık village as it was the closest point to the station, according to another report on the attack.



The Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said DNA tests on the victims’ remains had been concluded in Istanbul and that their identities were confirmed on May 16.



The remains of the victims were later brought to Diyarbakır and handed over to the victims’ families for funerals.

