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Turkey’s Erdogan says despite denials, Syrian Kurdish PYD behind Ankara attacks

He vowed to retaliate against these groups.

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The vehicle bomb attack, which rocked the heart of the Turkish capital on 17 February, targeted military personnel in a bus.

“Fourteen people have been detained”, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday, according to the Anadalou Agency. The bloodshed came on the heels of a string of attacks in Turkey, blamed on extremists but also on Kurdish rebels.

“Despite the fact that their leader says they have nothing to do with this, the information and documents obtained by our Interior Ministry and all our intelligence organizations shows that (the attack) was theirs”, Erdogan said.

In Turkey, twenty eight people including civilians were killed in a suicide auto bomb attack on military convoy in the capital, Ankara.

The White House said on Wednesday it condemned the attack in Ankara that killed 28 people and wounded dozens near the armed forces’ headquarters, parliament and other government buildings.

“It is with deep anguish and sadness that we have learnt about the bomb blast in Ankara”. “These accusations are clearly related to Turkish attempts to intervene in Syria”.

“Resorting to terrorist groups like the YPG in the fight against Daesh in Syria is above all a sign of weakness”, Cavusoglu said, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamist group.

Healthcare in Syria has collapsed following attacks on hospitals in the country, the worldwide organization Doctors Without Borders said after fresh bombings of hospitals this week.

Turkey has been hit by another attack targeting military personnel.

Mr Davutoglu said he Necar had operated in Turkey with logistical support from the outlawed Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey, BBC reports.

Ahmet Davutoglu said Thursday that Turkey’s Kurdish rebels collaborated with the Syrian man to carry out the attack.

The rebels now hold only the town of Azaz, not far from the Turkish border, and to the south Marea, which is currently nearly encircled by Kurdish forces to the west and Islamic State fighters to the east.

His thoughts were echoed by U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter.

The U.S. has rejected Turkish pressure to brand those Kurdish groups as terrorists.

“We extend our heartfelt condolences to the brotherly people and government of Turkey and pray for the swift recovery of those injured”, he said. “Will they (the United States) shift their view on YPG?”

In a separate development, at least six security personnel were killed and one soldier was seriously wounded in another bomb explosion in southeast Turkey, in the primarily Kurdish Diyarbakir province. The claim could not be verified.

It is reported that the bomber’s fingerprints, taken when he entered the country, helped authorities identify him.

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It is participating in the global fight against ISIS in Syria and Iraq led by the United States, and has been firing at Kurdish militia fighters in northern Syria in recent days.

Turkish Military Targeted in Car Bomb That Killed At Least 28 People