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Turkey Arrests Nine In Investigation Of Deadly Bombings

In Turkey, officials have arrested nine people in connection with what authorities say were two car bombs that killed 46 people near the Syrian border Saturday. Turkish officials say the suspects are Turkish civilians who are loyal to the Syrian regime.

"The bombs exploded in the border town of Reyhanli, which has been a gathering point for refugees, aid workers and smugglers bringing supplies into Syria to aid the effort to oust President Bashar al-Assad's regime," NPR's Peter Kenyon reports from Istanbul for our Newscast Desk.

Turkey's interior minister and other officials have said they believe Assad's intelligence agency was involved in the attack, as the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News reports.

"In Damascus, the Syrian information minister rejected any idea of Syrian involvement, and suggested that Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was responsible for the carnage," Peter reports.

"Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said those involved were thought also to have staged an attack on the Syrian coastal town of Banias a week ago in which at least 62 people were killed," according to Reuters.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Bill Chappell is a writer and editor on the News Desk in the heart of NPR's newsroom in Washington, D.C.
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