Over the past week, Turkey has been witness to a series of bombings on three separate occasions. In the latest, on 12 May, four Kurdish rebels were killed while loading explosives onto a truck in Sarikamis, a town and a district of Kars Province around nine miles from the Kurdish city of Diyarbakir. The explosion left 17 civilians wounded. It is thought that the rebels intended to use the explosives in an attack on security forces.

Footage showed what appeared to be a massive crater in a field that was caused by the blast.

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People look inside  a huge crater, after a powerful blast hit the area of Sarikamis on the outskirts of the majority Kurdish city of Diyarbakir Ilyas Akengin/AFP
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Women stand next to damaged houses after a powerful blast in the area of Sarikamis Ilyas Akengin/AFP
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A man walks past a burnt car after the  powerful blast in Sarikamis  Ilyas Akengin/AFP
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People look for bodies next to a huge crater after a powerful blast in the area of Sarikamis on the outskirts of the majority Kurdish city of Diyarbakir Ilyas Akengin/AFP
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People look in a huge crater after a powerful blast in the area of Sarikamis Ilyas Akengin/AFP
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People search for bodies next to a huge crater after a powerful blast in the area of Sarikamis on the outskirts of the majority Kurdish city of Diyarbakir Ilyas Akengin/AFP
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A man is seen in his damaged house after a powerful blast in the area of Sarikamis Ilyas Akengin/AFP
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People look in a huge crater after a powerful blast in the area of Sarikamis on the outskirts of the majority Kurdish city of Diyarbakir Ilyas Akengin/AFP

The explosion in Sarikamis came just hours after a separate blast, when a car bomb targeting the Turkish military exploded during the evening rush hour near the entrance of Istanbul's Sancaktepe neighbourhood. The attack killed five military personnel and wounded three civilians. Images emerged of the wrecked car, which was still on fire, while the windows of nearby buildings were blown out by the force of the blast. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, however it bears the hallmarks of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

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Smoke rises from the scene following a vehicle explosion near a military facility in Istanbul Reuters
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A masked police officer stands guard following a vehicle explosion near a military facility in Istanbul Yagiz Karahan/Reuters
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Security officers gather at a scene following a vehicle explosion near a military facility in Istanbul, Turkey Reuters

Both explosions came only two days after Kurdish rebels detonated a car bombs, close to a police vehicle in Diyarbakir, killing three and leaving dozens wounded.
Rebels of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) have been targeting police and the military since July. The Islamic State (Isis) have also been blamed for a series of deadly attacks.

The PKK is fighting for autonomy in the southeast of the country, waging decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state in a conflict that has claimed roughly 40,000 lives. The group is considered a terrorist organisation by the Turkish state and its allies.

Turkey has been targeted this year by a series of bombings, including two suicide attacks in tourist areas of Istanbul, blamed on IS and two car bomb attacks in the country's capital, Ankara, which left 66 people dead, for which the PKK claimed responsibility.

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Turkish plain clothes police officers walk on the site where a bomb exploded as forensic officers work in the background in Diyarbakir Ilyas Akengin/AFP
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Damaged vehicles are seen as Turkish plain clothes police officers investigate on the site where a bomb exploded in Diyarbakir Ilyas Akengin/AFP
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 Broken windows are seen near the site where a bomb exploded as forensic officers work in the background in Diyarbakir Ilyas Akengin/AFP
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People walk at the site where a bomb exploded in Diyarbakir Ilyas Akengin/ AFP
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