Suicide bomber kills 13 Turkish soldiers on bus; 7 suspects held

ISTANBUL — A suicide car bomber set off an explosion Saturday that demolished a public bus transporting off-duty soldiers in Turkey’s central province of Kayseri, killing 13 troops and wounding 56 other people, authorities said.

Saturday’s blast comes a week after a car bomb attack claimed by Kurdish militants killed 44 people, mainly riot police, and wounded over 150 others near a soccer stadium in Istanbul.

The state-run Anadolu Agency said the explosion at the entrance gate to Erciyes University hit a bus transporting off-duty soldiers.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the statements of top officials suggested suspicion was focused on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which Ankara and the West consider a terrorist organization.

Kurdish militants have claimed multiple attacks against soldiers and police across Turkey this year in violence that has also caused many casualties among civilians.