Bomb explosion kills 12 policemen in eastern Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey – A roadside bomb explosion killed 12 policemen in eastern Turkey after Turkish jets carried out airstrikes against Kurdish rebels and their camps in northern Iraq, state media reports said Tuesday.

Kurdish rebels were suspected of detonating a bomb in the eastern province of Igdir as a police vehicle escorting a group of customs officials to a border gate was passing by, the Anadolu Agency reported. A number of other officers were injured in the attack in the province which borders Armenia, the agency said.

The attack comes amid a sharp escalation of violence between Turkey’s security forces and the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. Sixteen soldiers were killed in a similar attack by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, on Sunday.