Turkey strikes targets in Iraq after Ankara bombing

Turkey has announced air strikes on militant targets in northern Iraq and detained suspects in Istanbul.

The announcement comes hours after the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) claimed a bomb attack in the capital Ankara. This is the first attack in Ankara since 2016.

Two attackers detonated a bomb near government buildings in the Turkish capital on Sunday morning. The attackers were both killed - one by the bomb and one by security forces - and two police officers were injured.

The area of the attack - which coincided with the opening of the assembly - houses ministries and parliament.

An interior ministry statement said the attackers had hijacked the vehicle and killed its driver in Kayseri, 260 km away from Ankara.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said that counterterrorism police have since detained 20 people in raids in Istanbul and elsewhere, targeting PKK-linked suspects.

The Turkish defence ministry claimed that many militants had been neutralised in air strikes that destroyed 20 targets in in Iraq's Metina, Hakurk, Qandil and Gara regions.

Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay