Three people have been killed and 45 others injured in a car bomb attack in Turkey's Diyarbakir city located in the mostly Kurdish southeast of the country.

A bomb-laden car hit into an armored police vehicle on Tuesday, according to security officials and media sources.

Earlier in the day, two police officers were killed while attempting to defuse a roadside bomb in the eastern province of Van, the Anadolu Agency said.

The agency blamed the deaths on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants.

The PKK, which wants greater autonomy for Turkey's Kurds, has waged decades-long militancy against the Turkish government.

Ankara has been engaged in a large-scale campaign against the PKK in its southern border region in the past few months. The Turkish military has also been conducting offensives against the positions of the group in northern Iraq and Syria.



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="555"] This image shows a police officer frisking passersby on April 1, 2016 at a security checkpoint in Diyarbakir, Turkey. (AFP Photo)[/caption]

Turkey’s operations against the PKK came after a July 2015 bombing in the southern town of Suruc. Over 30 people died in the attack, which the Turkish government blamed on the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.

The PKK, which accuses the Turkish government of supporting Daesh, carried out attacks against Turkish forces following the bombing.

By Press TV