Kurdish TAK militant group claims responsibility for Ankara bomb attack
Xinhua, March 17, 2016 Adjust font size:
The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) on Thursday claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack in Turkey's capital Ankara that killed 37 on Sunday.
The group, which is linked to the outlawed Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), said the Ankara attack was a "vengeful action" for Turkish government operations against PKK targets in mainly Kurdish southeast that has been going on since July.
In an online statement, TAK confirmed Seher Cagla Demir as the suicide bomber in the attack, which also injured more than 100 others.
On Tuesday, Turkey's Interior Ministry identified the bomber as PKK member Demir, who was born in 1992, saying she joined the PKK in 2013 and received training with the People's Protection Units in Syria.
TAK previously claimed responsibility for another suicide car bombing that targeted military personnel in Ankara on Feb. 17 that killed 29 people.
The group has earlier claimed responsibility for some other attacks outside the PKK's regular area of operation in the mainly Kurdish southeast, such as a 2015 attack at Istanbul's second airport that left an aircraft cleaner dead and another injured. Endit