Bomb Blast Kills One in Southeast Turkey

Turkish officials said Friday a remote-control bomb explosion has killed one person and injured 25 others in southeast Turkey, Anatolia news agency reported, citing authorities.

A hand-made bomb, comprising five kilograms of TNT explosives, was set of in the center of the city of Hakkari on Thursday afternoon, as a police car was passing by, police told state-run Anatolia.

The bomb was placed in the trunk of a car, they said.

The provincial governor of Hakkari, Muammer Turker, earlier said 13 people, including three police officers, were injured in a blast.

One of the injured, Zeki Yesil, a university student, died at hospital after the blast, Anatolia said. The injured included four police officers, it added.

Kurdish rebels on Friday denied any link with the bombing.

"Our forces have no connection to the bomb attack that killed one Kurdish youngster in Hakkari city centre ... Considering current winter conditions, it can be seen that it is not possible for our guerillas to take action in that region," the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) said in a statement, carried by pro-Kurdish news agency Firat.

Governor Turker earlier on Friday pointed a finger at PKK for the bombing.

Hakkari province is close to the Iraqi border in southeast Turkey, where the majority of the population is Kurdish.

Bomb blasts are frequent in Kurdish Anatolia, where the PKK took up arms in 1984 against the state, sparking a conflict that has claimed about 45,000 lives.