Local Turkish media report at least 20 people were wounded after a large blast rocked Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast region Friday.
The explosion took place outside the police headquarters in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir after authorities detained two co-leaders of the country’s main pro-Kurdish party, along with 11 legislators in a major crackdown on leading Kurds.
The cause of the explosion was not immediately known. Local media reported that a car bomb could have caused the blast.
The state-run Anadolu Agency said several ambulances were sent to the scene.
A series of deadly bomb attacks has taken place in Turkey in the past 18 months. Reports say these attacks were carried out by Kurdish militants or members of the Islamic State group. No group has claimed responsibility for Friday’s blast.
The two co-leaders of the country’s main pro-Kurdish party, Selahattin Demirtas of the Peoples’ Democratic Party and his co-chairperson Figen Yuksekdag, are accused of sharing propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), NTV television reported.
The arrests and special operations come as Turkey remains under a state of emergency after a failed coup in July.
Since the coup attempt, some 100,000 military, police, judiciary and education employees have been fired. Some 30,000 have been arrested for alleged links to the plot to overthrow the current government.
Thousands of judges have been detained under emergency rule, including two members of the Constitutional Court.
