DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Jan 8 (Reuters) - The death toll in last week's bomb attack in southeast Turkey's largest city rose to six after a youth died during treatment for injuries suffered in the blast, hospital officials said on Tuesday.

Security sources said the bomb was targeting military personnel, but five students were killed in the attack. A private school was in the immediate area of the blast. The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) said on Monday through a news agency close to the group that PKK members working independently may have been responsible for the bomb, the first semblance of a claim of responsibility since the attack.

The Turkish army has massed up to 100,000 troops near the mountainous Iraqi border in preparation for a cross border operation to crush the Kurdish separatists based in northern Iraq. While a full-scale operation has not occurred, commandos have conducted limited raids into Iraqi territory.

Diyarbakir, a mainly Kurdish city of about 1 million people, is home to large numbers of troops. Security sources said the targeted vehicle was carrying 46 army personnel.

Turkey, as well as the European Union and the United States labels the PKK a terrorist organisation, and Ankara blames the group for nearly 40,000 deaths since 1984 when it picked up arms to fight for an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. (Writing by Thomas Grove)

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