Turkey terror- Riot breaks out after 13 killed and 56 injured in Kayseri bus bombing
A BUS carrying off-duty soldiers has been hit by a car bomb, killing at least 13 people and injuring 56 in a deadly attack in Turkey sparking violent protests.
Blast sight of bomb attack in Turkey's Kayseri province
The bomb hit a bus transporting off-duty military personnel in the central Turkish city of Kayseri , one week after a similar attack targeted police outside the stadium of Istanbul soccer team Besiktas.
Survivors were seen covered in blood as emergency services rushed to the scene.
The bus was stopped at a red light and blew up as a car believed to be packed with explosives drove past near the campus of Erciyes University.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was responsible for a car bomb attack on the bus.
In a statement, he said:” The style and goals of the attacks clearly show the aim of the separatist terrorist organisation is to trip up Turkey, cut its strength and have it focus its energy and forces elsewhere.
"We know that these attacks we are being subjected to are not independent from the developments in our region, especially in Iraq and Syria."
The PKK is considered a terrorist group by the United States, Turkey and the European Union.
Off-duty soldiers were killed in the attack on their bus in Kayseri, Turkey
The Turkish Interior Minister said the attack, which killed 13 people, left 56 people in hospital with 12 in intensive care and six in a critical condition.
Suleyman Soylu said Turkey will retaliate in kind after the bomb exploded at around 8.45am local time.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak likened the bus attack to the Istanbul terror attack, which targeted police.
The bomb killed 13 soliders and injured another 48 people
Bus explosion in Kayseri Turkey
The car bomb attack resembles the Besiktas attack in terms of its style
An offshoot of the PKK claimed responsibility for the Besiktas attack which killed 44 and wounded more than 150.
Mr Kaynak said: "The car bomb attack resembles the Besiktas attack in terms of its style."
He added the attack would not put Turkey off of its goal of fighting militancy.
Violence breaks out in front of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party offices
People shout slogans and carry a Turkish flag as they protest the Kayseri bomb attack
A crowd stormed the HDP offices
Hours later a crowd stormed the local headquarters of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), parliament's second-largest opposition party. The office was vandalised and some documents set on fire, a party spokesman said.
The HDP condemned the bus bombing and called for an end to politics and language that creates polarisation, hostility and violence.
Thousands of Kurdish politicians, including the two leaders of the HDP, have been detained in recent months on suspicion having links to the PKK.
Turkish authorities likened the bombing to last week's Istanbul terror attack
Passengers covered in blood stand outside the bus in Kayseri
The military confirmed 13 personnel were killed and 48 wounded and said civilians may also have been injured in the attack.
Defence Minister Fikri Isik said on Twitter that Turkey would redouble its efforts to fight militancy. "We will fight these cowards with a national mobilisation.".
Kurdish militants have previously targeted buses carrying military or security forces.
The blast is the latest in a string of deadly attacks in Turkey this year, several of which have been claimed by Kurdish militants.
Turkey faces multiple security threats including spillover from the fight against Islamic State in northern Syria, where it is a member of a US-led coalition against the militant group.
It also faces regular attacks from Kurdish militants, who have been waging a three-decade insurgency for autonomy in largely Kurdish southeast Turkey.