Turkish airstrikes hit rebel targets after 37 die in suicide car-bombing

Rescuers carry away an injured person after the explosion in the Turkish capital Ankara on Sunday. SELAHATTIN SONMEZ / HURRIYET DAILY VIA AP

Turkey's Air Force hit Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq on Monday, hours after a suicide car-bombing in the Turkish capital killed 37 people.

Nine F-16s and two F-4 jets raided 18 positions of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, in northern Iraq, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Targets hit consisted of ammunition depots, bunkers and shelters.

Meanwhile, police carried out raids in the southern city of Adana, detaining suspected PKK rebels, the agency reported. The private Dogan news agency said at least 36 suspects were taken into custody. Fifteen suspected Kurdish militants were also detained in Istanbul, Anadolu said.

Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said three people died overnight after being wounded in the Sunday night attack that targeted buses and people waiting at bus stops in the heart of Ankara. Scores of others were injured.

A senior government official said that authorities believe the attack was carried out by two bombers — one of them a woman — and was the work of Kurdish militants. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing.

It was the second deadly attack blamed on Kurdish militants in the capital in the past month, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to bring "terrorism to its knees".

On Feb 17, a suicide car-bombing in Ankara targeted buses carrying military personnel, killing 29 people. A Kurdish militant group that is an offshoot of the PKK claimed responsibility.

A total of 210 people have died in five suicide bomb attacks in Turkey since July that were blamed either on the Kurdish rebels or the Islamic State group.

"All five attacks are linked to the fallout of the Syrian civil war," said Soner Cagaptay, an expert on Turkey at the Washington Institute. "Ankara's ill-executed Syria policy ... has exposed Turkey to great risks.

"The question, unfortunately, is not if there will be a terror attack again, but when the next attack will be," Cagaptay said.

Sunday's attack came as Turkish security forces were preparing to launch large-scale operations against militants in two mainly Kurdish towns after authorities imposed curfews there, prompting some residents to flee.

The operation in the town of Nusaybin, on the border with Syria, began on Monday, Anadolu reported. Tanks have also been deployed in Yuksekova, near the border with Iraq, but it was not immediately clear when the offensive there would start.

In its armed campaign in Turkey, the PKK has historically struck directly at the security forces and says it does not target civilians. A direct claim of responsibility for Sunday's bombing would indicate a major tactical shift.

AP — REUTERS