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2 explosions follow rioting in Turkey
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Saturday, Apr. 08 2006
ANKARA, TURKEY
A suicide bomber blew herself up Friday in front of a mosque in the Black Sea
city of Ordu, injuring two other people in the explosion, including a suspected
accomplice, police said.
In a separate incident, a small bomb left on a road close to a military
headquarters in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir went off, slightly
injuring two people inside a car, an official from the mayor's office said.
The explosions followed the worst street rioting in Turkey in a decade, which
has left 16 people dead, mostly Kurdish rioters. A militant Kurdish group had
pledged to step up attacks to avenge those deaths.
The rioting was set off by funerals for 14 pro-autonomy Kurdish guerrillas
killed by Turkish troops late last month. Thousands of protesters have rampaged
since, attacking police, banks and government offices.
The woman blew herself up in front of the Yenimahalle mosque, a police official
said.
Another woman - a suspected accomplice who was also carrying explosives - and a
man who was washing himself was injured, the official said. A third bomber
escaped the scene in Ordu, about 400 miles northeast of Ankara.
Police were investigating to see if the bombers may have been Kurdish rebels.
Kurdish rebels and left-wing militants are active in the city.
Police believe the attackers may have been targeting a prayer meeting nearby
and that the device went off accidentally, the official said.
The official was speaking on the condition of anonymity because of rules that
bar Turkish civil servants from speaking to journalists.
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