Erdogan Says Deadly Blast Near Syria Border Likely Terror-Linked

(Bloomberg) -- A deadly car blast in the Turkish border town of Reyhanli near Syria was likely caused by a terrorist act, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.

“It is clear that there was a bomb in the car,” Erdogan said in televised remarks, adding that all three people inside the vehicle were killed by the explosion. Multiple ambulances and firefighters were dispatched to the scene, around 750 meters away from the local governor's office, state media reported earlier.

In 2013, more than 50 people were killed in twin car-bomb explosions in Reyhanli. A civilian was killed last year when five rockets believed to be fired by Syrian Kurdish forces across the border hit the town.

The last major terror attack in Turkey took place on Jan. 1, 2017 when a lone assailant shot and killed more than 30 people in an Istanbul night club.

To contact the reporter on this story: Cagan Koc in Istanbul at ckoc2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Onur Ant at oant@bloomberg.net, Constantine Courcoulas

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