Istanbul – A car bomb killed 13 soldiers and injured 48 other people who were travelling on a bus in central Turkey early Saturday, the military said.
Its statement, carried by the state-run Anadolu news agency, added that both soldiers and civilians are among the wounded.
The soldiers had been on a shopping excursion in Kayseri province as part of their off-duty privileges, broadcaster NTV reported.
The governor of Kayseri province, Suleyman Kamci, referred to the incident as a “terrorist attack.” The authorities have imposed a partial broadcast ban, according to Anadolu.
File Image – Downtown Kaisery in Turkey. (Credit Image: © Jordi Boixareu via ZUMA Wire)
The explosion took place on a road near the Erciyes University at about 8:45 am (0545 GMT). Kayseri province is approximately 300 kilometres south of the capital Ankara.
The bus was hit on its left side by the explosion and the first images from the scene showed smoke rising from the vehicle and fires still burning in the surrounding area, which was covered in snow.
Last weekend, a car bomb and suicide bomber exploded outside a football stadium in Istanbul, killing 44 people, including 36 police officers.
A hardline Kurdish militant group, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Islamic State extremist group has also been blamed for a number of bomb attacks carried out in Turkey over the past 18 months.
-dpa
