PKK Claims Responsibility for Explosion in Turkish Diyarbakir

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on Friday claimed responsibility for the deadly attack in Turkish southeastern city of Diyarbakir, media reported Friday.

On Thursday, an explosion took place near the bus station in Diyarbakir, killing at least seven and injuring 27 people.

"Kurdish militant PKK group claims responsibility for car bomb attack in southeastern city of Diyarbakir on Thursday," Al Arabiya broadcaster said on its Twitter account.

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Tensions between Ankara and the Kurds both inside the country and in neighboring Syria and Iraq escalated in July 2015 as fighting between the PKK, the Kurdish pro-independence organization considered to be terrorist by Ankara, and the Turkish army resumed. Violence escalated further in December, when the Turkish authorities declared a curfew in a number of southeastern regions.

On March 28, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkish security services have killed, injured or detained more than 5,300 militants since the beginning of the anti-PKK operation.