Three people were killed and 20 others injured in an explosion in the southern Turkish resort city of Antalya on Monday, which is the fifth bomb attack within 24 hours in the country, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

The explosion occurred between motorcycles that had parked in front of a business center, Antalya Police Department's spokesman Akif Aktug was quoted as saying.

The injured people were rushed to nearby hospitals and security forces cordoned off the area for investigation.

Aktug said that efforts are underway to arrest two people in connection with the explosion, adding that the cause of the explosion is still unknown.

Earlier in the day, three bomb explosions hit Turkey's southern resort area of Marmaris and a fourth one jolted the largest city of Istanbul. More than two dozens were wounded in the explosions.

Turkish local media reported that the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons(TAK), a group linked to the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), has claimed responsibility for the explosions in Istanbul and Marmaris.

The PKK has launched an armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in southeastern and eastern Turkey since 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed more than 30,000 lives.

Turkey has increased troop deployment in the mainly Kurdish southeast to fight against the PKK, which was listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 29, 2006)