Kurdish rebel group claims deadly Istanbul bus bombing

AFP - A radical Kurdish separatist group claimed Tuesday the deadly bombing of a bus in Istanbul in which five people died and threatened more attacks, in a statement posted on its website.

The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) said they bombed the bus because Turkey "is planning a massacre of the Kurdish people" and has adopted "a concept of aggression" against jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, it said.

The Turkish authorities say TAK is a front used by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a bloody 26-year insurgency in the southeast, especially when attacks claim civilian casualties.

The PKK has said TAK is a splinter group outside its control.

Four soldiers and a 17-year-old girl, the daughter of an officer, were killed, and a dozen passengers wounded in the attack early Tuesday.

The bus, carrying army personnel to work, was hit by a remote-control bomb planted on a road in Halkali, a suburb on Istanbul's European side, officials said.

TAK threatened to "increase the dosage of our action" because Ankara's policies "are forcing us to undertake even more intensive attacks."

In a separate statement posted on its website, TAK claimed responsibility also for the June 8 bombing of a bus carrying policemen to work in Istanbul, which left 15 people wounded.