Bombings in Turkey

A near-simultaneous car bombing and suicide bombing at Vodafone Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, killed at least 44 people, most of them police officers, on Dec. 11. The bombings occurred two hours after a soccer match at the stadium. 

Kurdish separatist group Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), a militant offshoot of the political Kurdistan Workers Party (TKK), claimed responsibility for the attack. Membership with either of the two groups is illegal in Turkey. After the bombings, 235 people were arrested in Turkey on the charge of membership in the TKK.

On Dec. 17, at least 13 off-duty soldiers were killed and more than 56 people were wounded when a suicide bomber attacked a bus carrying soldiers to a local market in the city of Kayseri in central Turkey. No group had claimed responsibility as of press time.