Turkey PKK conflict: Cizre bomb kills 11 policemen

Istanbul, 26 August 2016 (MIA) - A car bomb has hit police headquarters in Cizre, south-east Turkey, killing 11 policemen and injuring 78, the BBC reports. 

The huge explosion at 07:00 (04:00 GMT) targeted a checkpoint, and left the nearby riot police HQ in ruins.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim blamed the banned Kurdistan Workers Party, PKK, and vowed to give the "vile attackers the answer they deserve".

Cizre has been the subject of several curfews in the past few months by Turkish authorities fighting the PKK.

The UN and human rights organisations have demanded an investigation into allegations that more than 100 people were burned to death while sheltering in basements in Cizre - a poor town close to the Syrian border.

The Turkish government has rejected allegations that it targeted civilians.
A string of PKK attacks have targeted Turkish security forces since a two-year ceasefire collapsed in July 2015.

Since then, military operations in the south-east and retaliatory attacks by the PKK have left hundreds of people dead.