A pre-dawn attack on Thursday in Cinar left the town's police headquarters and several adjacent buildings damaged and over 20 people injured. Photos and video footage showed the destroyed front of a several-storey building.

Initial police reports suggested that five people were dead and 39 were injured.

Turkey's Dogan news agency claimed the attack was carried out by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

The "Daily Sabah" newspaper reported only that civilians and police personnel had been wounded in an explosion, including the wives of police and several children.

The pro-Kurdish news agency Firat said clashes continued in the area at the bombing.

Cinar lies in Diyarbakir province, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish militants have become frequent.

In July, a fragile two-and-a-half-year truce fell apart.

In recent weeks, Turkish authorities have imposed curfews in three locations across the southeast and pressed military operations, vowing to flush the PKK from urban centers. Activists have said that dozens of civilians have been killed.

The PKK began insurgency in 1984, demanding independence. More recently, its demand has been limited to greater autonomy and rights for Turkey's largest ethnic minority.

ipj/sms (AFP, dpa)