Turkey bombings: 11 killed, nearly 300 injured in 3 attacks

Turkish officials blame the banned militant group Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, for the attacks.

The latest incident occurred Thursday in the eastern province of Bitlis, according to a senior Turkish official, who could not be named in line with government protocol.

First, a village guard was killed and a soldier was wounded in clashes between security forces and PKK militants in the village of Nazar, state news agency Anadolu reported.

When the military vehicle was returning from the engagement, it was struck by a roadside bomb in the nearby village of Gayda, killing five soldiers and wounding four, CNN reported.

Earlier Thursday, a huge car bomb struck police headquarters in the city of Elazig at about 8 .a.m local time (1 a.m. ET), killing three officers, Anadolu reported.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said in the wake of the blast that 217 people had been injured, with 145 of them still in the hospital.

Yildirim blamed the PKK for the attack. "This is the separatist PKK terrorist organization and its extensions. There is no doubt about it," he told reporters.