A car bomb exploded in the eastern Turkish town of Van this morning, killing five people and wounding 24 in an apparent attack on the local governor, who was unhurt.
The bomb, planted in a parked car and detonated by remote control, revived security worries in Turkey after a series of explosions ahead of and during a Nato summit held in Istanbul this week.
The explosion, in the town centre, shattered windows in surrounding buildings and tore holes in the bodywork of the official black Mercedes car carrying Mr Hikmet Tan, governor of an impoverished, mountainous province bordering Iran.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Far-leftist, Islamist and Kurdish militants are active in Turkey and have staged bomb attacks in the past.
The blast killed pedestrians on their way to work and shopkeepers. Some of the 22 injured were seriously hurt, a police official said.
A railway official said a train service between the capital Ankara and Istanbul had been halted today after a bomb tip-off. Passengers were taken off the train for half an hour but no device was found in a search.
Leftist groups were blamed for a series of small blasts in the run-up to the Nato summit in Istanbul, which was hit last November by a four al Qaeda-linked suicide bombings that killed more than 60 people.
On Tuesday a small bomb exploded on a plane at Istanbul airport, injuring three cleaners, hours before US President George W. Bush flew from the same location.