UPDATE 4 - Blast hits Turkish gendarmerie post in southeast

*UPDATES WITH WORLD REACTION

HAKKARI, Turkey (AA) - An explosives-laden vehicle was detonated outside a gendarmerie station in southeast Turkey on Sunday, killing 18 people.

Following the attack at around 9.45 a.m. local time (0645GMT) in Semdinli, Hakkari province, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said eight civilians died and 10 soldiers were martyred.

“A pick-up made a suicide rush with five tons of explosives in it,” he said at a news conference in Istanbul.

In a statement, the Turkish General Staff blamed the attack on the PKK terrorist organization. Hakkari province, which borders Iraq and Iran, has seen a large number of PKK attacks since the group resumed its armed campaign in July last year.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan released a statement on Sunday to condemn the deadly terror attack.

“Our state with all its institutions and its nation are committed to incapacitate the separatist terrorist organization’s action,” said Erdogan.

“We are committed to take any political, diplomatic, military measures for the survival of our state and our nation both domestically and abroad,” he added.

The military said 16 gendarmes were wounded. The number of civilians injured was unclear but a group of people waiting at a nearby bus stop are thought to have been caught in the attack.

-World reactions

President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Pedro Agramunt expressed solidarity with the Turkish people after the attack.

“Once again, it appears that terrorism strikes one of our member states Turkey. I strongly condemn the car bomb attack," the president said.

Qatar condemned the bombing, which targeted a gendarmerie station in Hakkari Province in southeastern Turkey.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed Qatar's solidarity with Turkey and reiterated the country's stance “rejecting violence and terrorism in all its forms and manifestations whatever the motives and causes”.

Pakistan also strongly condemned the terrorist attack and reaffirmed “solidarity with Turkey”, according to a statement released by Pakistan's Foreign Ministry.

“Pakistan condemns this mindless act of terrorism in the strongest possible terms. We extend our heart-felt sympathies and condolences to the bereaved families and to the fraternal people and the government of Turkey. We also pray for the speediest and fullest recovery of the wounded,” the statement said.

The blast occurred at a checkpoint in front of the Durak gendarmerie outpost, which is around 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of the Semdinli town center.

The casualties were taken to nearby hospitals and an air-and-land operation was launched to apprehend the terrorists.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and the EU. Since it resumed its decades-old armed campaign, PKK terror attacks martyred more than 600 security personnel and claimed lives of many civilians including women and children while around 7,000 terrorists were killed in army operations.