Car bomb hits police station in southeast Turkey, many wounded: sources

A car bomb attack hit a police station in the southeastern Turkish province of Mardin on Wednesday, wounding many people, security sources said, a day after 11 people were killed by a bomb targeting police in Istanbul.

The blast in the town of Midyat, in the mainly Kurdish southeast, destroyed the facade of a five-storey building, damaged other buildings, and sent a plume of thick black smoke rising over the area, footage from the Dogan news agency showed.

Clashes broke out between the members of the security forces and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants after the explosion, the security sources said. The PKK has waged a three-decade insurgency for Kurdish autonomy in the southeast and violence has spiralled since a ceasefire collapsed almost a year ago.

Ambulances rushed to the scene and reinforcements from the security forces were being sent to the area from around Mardin province, the security sources said.

There has been no claim of responsibility for Tuesday's attack in Istanbul, in which a car bomb ripped through a police bus during the morning rush hour. But Kurdish militants have staged similar attacks on the security forces in the recent past, including in Istanbul and the capital Ankara.