Oil Pipeline Explodes in Turkey, Terrorist Attack Suspected

Two people have been killed and one has been wounded after a oil pipeline exploded in southeast Turkey in an apparent terrorist attack.

Photo: Oil Pipeline Explodes in Turkey, Terrorist Attack Suspected

Turkish security officials said Kurdish militants were behind the blast, branding it as sabotage.

The banned Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, recently vowed to target Turkish economic interests. However, no-one has yet admitted to attacking the pipeline, euronews reports.

The authorities suspect the PKK carried out the attack, but the group has not claimed responsibility, although they have attacked the pipeline in the region several times, including last month.

The 970-kilometre pipeline carries crude oil from Kirkuk in northern Iraq to Ceyhan, where it is loaded onto tankers.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community, took up arms for self-rule in the Kurdish-majority southeast in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed around 45,000 lives, according to Times of India.