Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on live television there had been an attack on a police station in Van but did not elaborate on any details.

Police and ambulances were seen rushing to the scene, according to reports by the privately owned Dogan news agency. Turkish state broadcaster TRT added that the police station also served as a police barracks, citing the local governor.

It was not immediately clear how many police and civilians were among the dead and wounded in Van, which is located near the Iranian border. The attack came just two days after another blast had killed three people in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir.

Attack blamed on PKK

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. However, Kurdish insurgents have targeted police stations with car bombs in the past.

Deputy Governor Mehmet Parlak told the state-owned Anadolu news agency that the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was to blame for the attack. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization not only in Turkey but also in the United States and the EU.

A suspect was reportedly caught during an air raid that was launched after the attack, according to authorities cited by Anadolu. Turkey has been stepping up its campaign against the Kurds again while operating under state of emergency measures since the July 15 failed coup attempt, closing down a pro-Kurdish newspaper earlier in the week.

For the past year, Turkish armed forces and PKK militants have resumed fighting in Turkey's volatile southeast. According to government figures, more than 600 security personnel and 7,000 PKK members have since been killed.

The conflict has claimed more than 30,000 lives since it turned bloody in 1984.

ss/kl (Reuters, Anadolu)