Bomb attack at Turkish police station; dozens hurt: reports

Kurdish rebels early on Thursday detonated a car bomb at a police station then attacked it with rocket launchers and firearms, injuring 39 people, including civilians, Turkish media reports said.

The attack targeted the police station in the town of Cinar, in the mostly-Kurdish Diyarbakir province, and police lodgings on the top floors of the building, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. The force of the blast destroyed part of the station's wall.

Anadolu said at least 13 people were hurt, but the private Dogan news agency put the injury toll at 39.

Another police station was also attacked with rocket launchers in Midyat town, in the province of Mardin, in what appeared to be a simultaneous assault. No casualties were reported there.

The attack came two days after a suicide bomber detonated a bomb in Istanbul's main tourist district, killing 10 Germans. Turkish officials say the bomber was affiliated with the Islamic State group.

Clashes between Turkey's security forces and the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, reignited in July, shattering a fragile peace process.

Authorities have since imposed extended curfews in flashpoint neighbourhoods and towns in the mainly Kurdish-populated southeast region of the country as the security forces battle Kurdish militants who are linked to the PKK. Those militants have mounted barricades, dug trenches and set up explosives to keep authorities away. The operations have resulted in more than a hundred civilian casualties, and displaced thousands, human rights groups say.

The conflict between the government forces and the PKK has killed tens of thousands of people since 1984. The group is considered a terror organization by Turkey and its western allies.