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World :: Bomb Kills Eight In Turkish City Of Gaziantep

At least eight people have been killed after a remote control bomb exploded near a police station in the city of Gaziantep, security sources have said.

The explosion was caused by a remote-controlled car bomb, Turkey's Dogan news agency quoted Gaziantep's governor Erdal Ata as saying.

Television footage showed a vehicle and the surrounding area on fire as firemen tried to fight the blaze.

Ambulances ferried casualties to hospital while anxious residents looked on.

Turkey has opened a centre in Gaziantep to receive international aid for Syrian refugees fleeing the uprising against President Bashar al Assad.

The country is struggling to cope with an influx of almost 70,000 Syrian refugees.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but southeastern Turkey has seen frequent attacks by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and European Union.

The group launched a separatist insurgency in the region 28 years ago.

The violence is a headache for Turkey's prime minister, Tayyip Erdogan as he seeks to limit the impact on Turkey of the conflict in Syria, where the PKK is exerting growing authority in some border areas.

Ankara believes PKK militants are receiving arms from Syrian forces.

Suspected PKK members ambushed a Turkish military bus in western Turkey earlier this month, an attack outside the group's regular field of operation in the mainly Kurdish southeast.

Two Turkish soldiers were killed earlier on Monday by a landmine on a road in southeast Turkey, an attack also believed to have been carried out by PKK militants, security sources said.