Turkish paper identifies Ankara car bomb attacker as Syrian national
Date
2/18/2016 7:11:14 AM
(MENAFN- Asia Times) Firefighters prepare to extinguish fire after a car bomb explosion in Ankara on Feb. 17
The bomber identified as Salih Necar was thought to have entered Turkey with refugees from Syria. His fingerprints had been taken when he entered the country which was how police identified him Yeni Safak reported on its website. It said the car used in the attack carried out near Turkey’s military headquarters parliament and other government buildings had been rented out in the western Turkish city of Izmir around two weeks ago. Turkey’s prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu blamed the attack on Kurdish YPG militia based in Syria. Nine people have been arrested he said.
The fighters got support from militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey.
Ankara vowed to strike back against those behind the deadly bomb attack.
“Turkey will not shy away from using its right to self-defense at any time any place or any occasion” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
Hundreds of armed rebels cross into Syria
At least 500 rebels crossed the Turkish border on Wednesday and headed for the Syrian town of Azaz in northern Aleppo province where opposition forces have suffered setbacks at the hands of Kurdish fighters.
'At least 500 rebels have crossed the Bab al-Salam border crossing on their way to the town of Azaz from which they want to help the insurgents in the face of gains made by Kurdish forces in the north of the province' the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdel told AFP.
They included rebels as well as Islamist fighters all of them armed he said.
Almost 350 rebels were also reported to have passed through the Atme border crossing on 14 February armed with heavy and light weapons.
Opposition forces have lost ground to government troops in northern Aleppo province since they began a major offensive in the former rebel bastion backed by Russian airstrikes.
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