New wave of bomb attacks hits Turkey as Kurdish rebels targeting police and soldiers kill at least 12 victims

Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants killed at least 12 civilians in three separate attacks in southeastern Turkey on Wednesday.

The attacks, which came on the heels of a failed military coup that threatened to topple Turkey's government, were aimed at police and soldiers in the largely Kurdish region.

Bombs were set off simultaneously in the city of Diyarbakir and the town of Kiziltepe, killing eight people, according to the Associated Press.

Just hours earlier, four soldiers were killed and nine were wounded in another attack near the Iraqi border.

A roadside bomb was set off in Kiziltepe just as a police bus passed by. An official said three people were killed and at least 25 were wounded, including at least five children between the ages of two and five.

Meanwhile, a car bomb targeting police in the historic Diyarbakir city killed at least five civilians and wounded 12 others, according to the governor's office. The explosion went off at a security checkpoint on a bridge over the Tigris river.

According to the Dogan news agency, the earlier attack on Turkish military personnel was carried out with improvised explosives and rockets fired from across the Iraq border.

All three attacks are being attributed to the PKK, which has been decried as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the EU and the US.

The group frequently uses car bombs and roadside explosives.

Last summer, the shaky ceasefire between Turkish forces and the PKK collapsed, and the group resumed frequent attacks against Turkish military and police.

Since then, more than 600 Turkish security forces and thousands of PKK militants have been killed, according to Turkey's Anadolu Agency.

Turkish media reports that PKK leader Cemil Nayik threatened attacks against Turkish police earlier this week.

More than 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK began activities in 1984.

Turkey is still recovering from July 15's violent coup attempt. Two hundred and seventy people died, and more than 26,000 Turkish nationals have been detained for questioning.

The country is also focused on combating ISIS, which has waged a series of deadly attacks on Turkey during the past year.

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