Turkey vows "total war" against terrorism amid repeated attacks

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Friday declared a "total war" against terrorism, as the country has come under repeated deadly attacks in recent days.

"Let our nation know that we have opened a total war against these terrorist groups," Yildirim said at a joint press conference in Istanbul with his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borissov.

"We will give all kinds of necessary response to these villains who targeted the fellowship and unity of 79 million people," added Yildirim.

Eleven police officers were killed and 75 people injured earlier in the day when a police checkpoint in the southeastern city of Cizre was hit by a bomb-laden truck, the latest in a series of bombing attacks that have befallen Turkey these days.

The Islamic State (IS) and the Kurdistan Workers' Party, whose militants are fighting the government forces in southeastern Turkey, are blamed for the attacks.

Referring to the Turkish army's cross-border operation in northern Syria on Wednesday, in which IS militants were driven out of the Syrian border town of Jarablus, Yildirim said the operation will continue until Turkey's security is achieved one hundred percent and all the IS elements are removed from the area.

Last Saturday, a suicide bomber, believed to be as young as 12, killed 54 people and wounded scores of others when he blew himself up at a wedding ceremony in Turkey's southeastern city of Gaziantep. The IS was blamed for the atrocity. Endit