Deadly blast hits southeast Turkey

At least eight people have been killed in a blast on board a minibus in southeast Turkey, local officials have said. At least three others were injured.

The incident occurred on Thursday near the village of Gecitli in Hakkari province, bordering Iran and Iraq.
Security officials said a remote-controlled explosive device hid on the road had caused the blast.
Governor Muammer Guler of Hakkari said that in addition to those killed, three others, including a baby, were injured in the explosion.
The governor said Turkish troops launched an operation to hunt down Kurdish rebels believed to be behind the attack.
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters have frequently carried out attacks in the region in the past, but such attacks generally target the military.

‘Civilian bus’

“On first glance, this had the hallmarks of what we’ve seen in the past, of attacks on vans carrying soldiers on military supply routes,” said Al Jazeera’s Anita McNaught, reporting from the city of Van, about 100km from where the blast happened.
“But this appears to have been a civilian bus, and as such poses a number of puzzles. The PKK on the whole don’t tend to target civilians, so are we looking at a change in tactic, or an accident? Or, as always a possibility in Turkey, is this a third actor, taking a civilian target on in order to create instability and cast the PKK or another actor in a bad light?”
Only last month did the PKK declared a ceasefire, which is not due to expire until September 20.
Before the ceasefire deal was struck, there had been an upsurge in violence since June, when the PKK ended a previous 14-month unilateral ceasefire.
Several thousand PKK fighters are based in the mountains of northern Iraq, from where they regularly launch raids in southeast Turkey.
The group took up arms in their fight for autonomy in 1984. More than 40,000 people, mostly Kurds, have since died in the fighting.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies