DIYARBAKIR, Turkey
A child was killed Sunday in a bomb blast carried out by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in southeastern Turkey, local sources said.
The victim -- a 13-year-old boy named Firat Simpil -- was hit by an explosion from a roadside bomb as he passed in Silvan, Diyarbakir province. The device is believed to have been placed by the road to target a military vehicle.
A nearby house was destroyed by the force of the blast. An investigation has been launched.
Turkey’s new Deputy Prime Minister Cevdet Yilmaz, during a visit to Diyarbakir governor’s office on Sunday, said that the explosion clearly revealed the terror organization’s mentality.
“Acts like this are examples showing that the terror organization [the PKK] pays no attention to civilian lives.”
Yilmaz said that on the other hand, the Turkish state is showing extreme sensitivity while combating terrorism so as to avoid harming the civilian population.
“Our security forces are fighting terrorism on one hand, and are showing maximum effort on the other to avoid even the slightest damage to our citizens,” he said.
The minister went on to express his condolences to the Simpil family who lost their child on Sunday and to the locals of the Silvan district.
The attack is the latest since the PKK, which is designated a terror organization in Turkey, the U.S. and EU, renewed an armed campaign against the Turkish state in the aftermath of the July 20 suicide bombing in Suruc, Sanliurfa province.
More than 60 members of the security forces have been martyred in the violence, while Turkey says land and air operations in Turkey and northern Iraq have killed over 900 militants.
