Woman bomber suspected in Turkey blast that killed 37

Ankara believes the woman had ties with outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party

ANKARA: The Turkish police on Monday detained 11 suspects near the Syrian border they believe are linked to the deadly car bomb attack in the heart of the capital that killed 37 people, according to local media.

Police acted on the tip-off that the car that exploded in Ankara had been bought from a dealer in Sanliurfa, state-run Anatolia news agency reported. The suspects were due to be taken to Ankara, the agency said.

No terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack — the third on the capital in five months.

Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu gave an overall toll of 37, but said this included at least one attacker or possibly two.

Ankara believes one of the bombers was a woman with ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party ( PKK), designated as a terrorist group by Turkey and its Western allies.

Security officials identified the woman as a 1992-born and from the eastern Turkish city of Kars.

The government has said it expects to officially identify the organisation behind the attack later on Monday.

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.

The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) claimed responsibility for the previous car bombing, just a few blocks away, on February 17.

TAK said it has split from the PKK, although experts who study Kurdish militants say the two organisations are affiliated.

On February 17, a suicide car- bombing in the capital targeted buses carrying military personnel, killing 29 people.

Turkey declared a round-theclock curfew in the southeastern town of Sirnak on Monday to carry out operations against Kurdish militants in the area, the provincial governor’s office said in a statement.

Sunday’s blast came as Turkey’s security forces were set to launch large-scale operations against militants in two mainly Kurdish towns — Yuksekova, near the border with Iraq and in Nusaybin, which borders Syria — after authorities imposed curfews there, prompting residents to flee. The military deployed tanks near the towns as the curfews were announced.