Turkey continues to shell PYD positions in Syria’s Azaz

Firefighters prepare to extinguish fire after an explosion in Ankara, Turkey.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing.

The bomber, identified as Salih Necar, was thought to have entered Turkey with refugees from Syria.

Pro-government Sabah newspaper said the man was linked to the PKK, which has been fighting for autonomy for Kurds in Turkey’s southeast region.

Soner Cagaptay, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy think tank, said that if it was a bomb attack, suspects could include ISIS or the PKK, the Kurdish militant separatists that Turkey considers a terrorist group.

Last month, a large explosion rocked the Sultanahmet Square in central Istanbul, killing and injuring several people.

“We will continue our fight against the pawns that carry out such attacks, which know no moral or humanitarian bounds, and the forces behind them with more determination every day”, he said in a written statement.

The Turkish government has blamed the YPG, the armed wing of Syria’s Democratic Union Party, and it has shelled some of its positions across the border in Syria.

Speaking today, Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said that a Syrian national with links to these Kurdish organizations – the PKK and the YPG (which is active in Syria) – carried out the suicide bombing.

Turkey has vowed to retaliate against the perpetrators of a powerful blast in the capital Ankara that left at least 28 people dead and 61 injured.

The prime minister added that nine others had been detained in connection with the attack.

The vehicle bomb targeted a convoy of military buses in the Turkish capital, just a few hundred meters from parliament and military headquarters.

A collapsed ceasefire with the PKK back after two years of relative peace in July has sparked a flare-up of violence, attacks and government crackdowns.

John Kirby said that the explosion in Ankara was clearly a terrorist attack, clearly taking innocent lives.

In a live television speech, Davutoglu said the bombing showed that the Syrian Kurdish YPG is a terrorist organization and that Turkey expects cooperation from its allies against the group.

Chances are that the war between Turkey and the PKK/YPG will be stepped up in the coming hours and days. Recent airstrikes by Russian and Syrian forces have prompted tens of thousands of Syrian refugees to flee to Turkey’s border. The claim couldn’t be verified.