Kurdish splinter group claims Turkey blast

The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) have claimed responsibility for a car bombing that killed 28 people in the Turkish capital.

Flames engulf vehicles following a car bomb in Ankara

An armed Kurdish splinter group has claimed responsibility for a car bombing in the Turkish capital. (AAP)

An armed Kurdish splinter group has claimed responsibility for a car bombing this week in Ankara that targeted a military convoy and killed 28 people.

The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) made the claim on the group's website, saying the bombing was retaliation for the situation in Cizre, south-eastern Turkey, where intense fighting is ongoing, leaving massive destruction.

The group warned tourists to avoid Turkey, saying: "We are not responsible for who will die in the attacks" in tourist areas.

Clashes between Turkish government forces and Kurdish militants have left dozens killed and tens of thousands displaced in Cizre, which remains under a strict round-the-clock military curfew.

The statement said the group would "take revenge for all the suffering of the Kurdish people" and said the attack in Ankara was against the "fascist" Turkish state.

The little-known TAK last claimed a December mortar attack on an airport in Istanbul in which one woman from the cleaning staff was killed.

The group is seen as a splinter that broke away from the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) more than a decade ago, though some security experts claim there are still links.

Turkey has been claiming the car bomb attack, which hit a convoy of buses near major military and government buildings, was carried out by a Kurd from northern Syria who was born in 1992.

However, the TAK statement said the bomber, who died in the attack, was born in 1989 in Van in eastern Turkey.

Earlier, Syrian Kurds from the People's Protection Units (YPG), which is backed by the United States in its war against the Islamic State group, denied any involvement in the Ankara bombing.

Turkey, which has insisted the YPG was behind the attack, has so far arrested 20 people in connection with the bombing.

Turkey has been heavily shelling YPG positions since the attack. The Kurds have claimed at least two civilians were killed in the strikes, which intensified on Friday morning.


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Source: AAP


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