{"id":69853,"date":"2016-03-14T10:11:28","date_gmt":"2016-03-14T14:11:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/?p=69853"},"modified":"2016-03-14T10:13:06","modified_gmt":"2016-03-14T14:13:06","slug":"turkish-warplanes-strike-kurdish-bases-after-deadly-ankara-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/turkish-warplanes-strike-kurdish-bases-after-deadly-ankara-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkish warplanes strike Kurdish bases after deadly Ankara attack"},"content":{"rendered":"
BEIRUT – Turkish airstrikes targeted Kurdish militant strongholds in northern Iraq on Monday, a day after a suicide car bombing in Turkey’s capital killed at least 37 people and raised concerns over expanding violence from an internal war with separatists.<\/p>\n
There was still no assertion of responsibility from Sunday’s blast in Ankara – less than a month after a similar attack in the city – but the rapidly organized airstrikes suggest Turkish officials suspect Kurdish separatists, who wage attacks in Turkey but have bases over the border in northern Iraq.<\/p>\n
Turkey’s Kurdish militant, led by a group known as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, have battled for greater autonomy in southeast Turkey for decades. But unrest has escalated recently on yet another front in a region already in deep turmoil over the Syrian civil war and the Western-led campaign against the Islamic State.<\/p>\n
At the same time, Turkey also has bombed sites of another Kurdish group based in Syria, claiming the U.S.-backed fighters seek to make territorial gains as part of their fight against the Islamic State.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, whose office was about 200 yards from Sunday’s blast site, promised “the heaviest punishment” for the bombers.<\/p>\n
The Associated Press, citing a senior government official, reported that authorities believe Sunday’s attack was carried out by two assailants – a man and woman – linked to Kurdish militants. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.<\/p>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n In northern Iraq, warplanes struck at least 18 PKK positions including bases in the Qandil mountains, a base for the group’s leadership, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Targets included ammunition depots, bunkers and shelters, the agency said.<\/p>\n Sunday’s blast, in a busy area of Ankara, occurred less than a mile from a car bombing Feb. 17, which targeted a bus full of Turkish soldiers, killing 28 of them. An offshoot of the PKK claimed responsibility.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n