Turkey: Van attack martyrs another police officer

VAN, Turkey (AA) – A Turkish police officer Friday succumbed to his wounds after being injured in a PKK attack Wednesday in the eastern city of Van, a security source said.

PKK terrorists detonated a car bomb near a police station in Van’s Ipekyolu district, martyring two police officers and claiming two civilians' lives. Seventy-three people, including 20 police officers, were also injured, an unnamed security source said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

The police officer, Muhammet Acar, 26, passed away at Lokman Hekim Hospital in the capital Ankara due to serious injuries sustained in the attack.

The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization also by the U.S. and the EU – resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015.

Since then, over 600 security personnel, including troops, police officers, and village guards, have been martyred and more than 7,000 PKK terrorists killed or neutralized in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq.