By Xinhua,
Ankara : The United States condemned on Thursday the attack of the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) that took place in Diyarbakir province of southeastern Turkey Wednesday.
The PKK militants ambushed a police shuttle bus in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir, killing five people, including four police officers and injuring 22 others including 17police officers.
The United States condemned the terrorist attack and extended the U.S. condolences to the families and friends of the people who lost their lives, said the U.S. Embassy in Ankara in a statement.
The U.S. continues to work closely with Turkey against the common enemy PKK, added the U.S. Embassy.
The attack came one day after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the country would launch cross-border military operations against PKK’s bases in northern Iraq if necessary.
On Wednesday, Turkish parliament approved a motion to extend by one year the government’s mandate to order cross-border operations against PKK activities targeting Turkey waged from the north of Iraq.
The anger of the Turkish people is mounting after Friday’s deadly attack that killed 17 Turkish soldiers in Hakkari province.
The Erdogan government and the powerful military have pledged to intensify a campaign to crush the outlawed PKK, which is branded by Turkey, the United States and the European Union as a terrorist group.
The PKK took up arms in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnichomeland in southeastern Turkey. Some 40,000 people have been killed in the over-two-decade conflict.
Turkey has conducted frequent air raids on suspected positions of the PKK in northern Iraq. In February, this year, it also launched an eight-day cross-border ground incursion against PKK rebels.