By Shabtai Gold
dpa, Berlin
ISTANBUL — A car bomb and a roadside explosion killed nine members of Turkey’s security forces on Thursday and injured more than 100, the Dogan news agency reported.
The first attack, a car bomb in the eastern Elazig province outside a police headquarters, claimed three police officers’ lives.
Later, in the nearby Bitlis province, five soldiers and a member of a pro-government militia were killed by a roadside bomb.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim flew to Elazig to condemn the blast.
On Wednesday evening, in Van province, also in Turkey’s restive east, a bomb went off near a police station and left three people dead, including two civilians, with dozens injured.
Kurdish militants and security forces have been embroiled in clashes for more than a year, since a ceasefire broke down between the government and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Over the past year, more than 1,800 people have been killed in the new round of conflict.
Militants have increasingly been using car bombs and other improvised explosive devices against security forces.