18 wounded in suspected PKK bomb attack on Turkish port

The car blew up as two minibuses, one carrying soldiers and the other transporting police, drove by.

Izmir governor Cahit Kirac said: "The explosion occurred in a vacant car left at the blast scene. We believe the blast was caused by plastic explosives triggered by remote control."

One of the policemen was reported to be in a critical condition. A colonel was among the three soldiers hurt in the blast.

Transport Minister Binali Yildirim blamed the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Izmir, which is one of Turkey's main ports on the Aegean coast, has a large population of Kurdish immigrants and has been targeted in the past by PKK guerillas, who are fighting for greater autonomy in the country's south-east.

Ankara has recently stepped up air attacks and artillery barrages of PKK bases in northern Iraq, backed by US intelligence.

Turkish media recently reported that the rebels were planning retaliatory bomb attacks.

Mr Yildirim suggested that the PKK was focusing on a bombing campaign in urban centres because military operations had crippled its activities in the south-east.

On Tuesday, a suspected suicide bomber detonated a car in the southern city of Mersin, killing himself and wounding 12 officers.