2016 Cizre bombing
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06:45 (UTC+03:00)
| 2016 Cizre bombing | |
|---|---|
| Part of Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present) Kurdish–Turkish conflict (2015–present) | |
| Location | 37°20′23.1″N 42°11′46.0″E / 37.339750°N 42.196111°E Cizre, Şırnak, Turkey |
| Date | 26 August 2016 06:45 (UTC+03:00) |
| Target | Cizre District Police Department, Riot Control Police checkpoint |
Attack type | Car bomb, suicide attack |
| Deaths | 13 (including the perpetrator) |
| Injured | 78 |
| Perpetrators | Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) |
| Assailant | Mustafa Aslan |
| Motive | Anti-Turkish |
| Suicide attacks in Turkey |
|---|
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| Groups responsible |
| Attacks |
The 2016 Cizre bombing was a suicide bombing by PKK member Mustafa Aslan in Cizre, Turkey. The assailant used a car bomb to attack a police checkpoint outside the police headquarters. Twelve police officers and Aslan were killed in addition to 75 police officers and three civilians injured.
The attack took place at 06:45 (UTC+03:00) local time on the street where the Cizre District Police Headquarters and the Riot Control Branch Office buildings are located in the Konak neighborhood of Cizre. The attacker approached the police checkpoint with the 10 ton explosives loaded on a truck, following which a conflict broke out. When the assailant could not cross the police checkpoint located about 50 meters (160 ft) from the police buildings, he exploded the bomb loaded vehicle there.[1]
Later events
As a result of the explosion, the assailant and 11 police officers died and 78 people were injured.[2] On 29 September 2016, with the death of police officer Safa Altınsoy at Gülhane Military Medical Academy, who was injured during the incident, the number of security personnel killed in the bombing rose to 12.[3] In addition, the Cizre District Governor Ahmet Adanur and a seven-month-old baby were reported among the injured.[4]
Due to the severity of the explosion, the district police headquarters building was destroyed and damage occurred in many houses and workplaces. On the side of the building, the sections where the police were staying were destroyed and the material warehouse lit up. Part of the retaining wall of the Cizre Garrison Command was damaged.[5] Reinforcement police teams, TOMAs and fire trucks were dispatched to the scene.[1]
After the attack, the Governor of Şırnak banned the entrance and exit to the Cizre district, and the Cizre-Şırnak highway was closed to transportation.[1] Within the scope of the investigation made after the attack, it was claimed that the dump truck used was owned by the Şırnak Municipality and rented and used by Cizre Municipality.[6] The PKK, who took responsibility for the attack on the same day, announced the name of the attacker as Mustafa Aslan, whose nom de guerre was Fırat Pirsus.[7]
Broadcasting ban
The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) stated that with the letter of the Prime Minister, a temporary broadcasting ban was imposed on the attack in Cizre. In the written statement made by RTÜK, it was stated that in article 7 of the Law No. 6112 on the Establishment and Broadcasting Services of Radio and Television, that "temporary broadcasting prohibition can be imposed when national security is clearly required or when the public order is likely to be severely impaired."[8]
Perpetrators
The military arm of the PKK, HPG, took responsibility for the attack that was carried out in Cizre as well as the attack that occurred during the passage of a convoy in Şavşat, which also included the leader of the Republican People's Party Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, and in which a soldier was killed.[9][10][11] In a statement made by the HPG, it was stated that the Cizre attack was carried out in revenge for the people killed during the Şırnak clashes (2015–2016).[7]
