26 people detained after Turkey car bomb attack

Turkish police detained 26people over a car bomb attack in the south-eastern town ofViransehir, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Saturday.

A vehicle loaded with explosives was remotely detonated lateon Friday in the garden of a housing complex for judges andprosecutors, killing an 11-year-old boy and a security guard.Seventeen people were injured.

"The vehicle had been detonated just as a security guard whosaw it being parked was about to intervene with a gun, killinghim," Soylu told reporters in Viransehir, adding that the blastcaused damage to 14 buildings nearby.

Eleven people were still being treated in hospital, Soylusaid, including two in intensive care.

"As of last night a total of 26 people had been detained andour security forces are conducting the necessary work," headded. A previous statement from the Sanliurfa provincialgovernor's office said the owner of the vehicle used in theattack was among those being held.

Images from the scene showed dozens of cars parked insidethe housing complex were severely damaged while the buildings'windows and balconies were almost entirely shattered. Turkish
flags were hung on the side of the buildings.

There has been no claim of responsibility. Sanliurfagovernor Gungor Azim Tuna was quoted as saying by the state-runAnadolu agency that the attack was carried out by KurdistanWorkers Party (PKK) militants.

The PKK, designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, theEuropean Union and the United States, launched an armedseparatist insurgency in 1984 and more than 40,000 people havebeen killed in the conflict.

A ceasefire between the PKK and the state broke down inJuly, 2015.