Syria denies involvement in car bomb attacks

The Syrian government has denied being behind two car bombs which killed 46 people in a Turkish border town.

Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi told a news conference yesterday that the regime “did not commit and would never commit such an act because our values would not allow that.”

Suspects behind the blasts are Turkish citizens but the authorities in Turkey said links to Syrian intelligence were being investigated.

Meanwhile Turkey’s prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country would not be drawn into the conflict in Syria.

He called on Turks to be “extremely careful, extremely vigilant... in the face of provocations”.

“We will not be trapped. The aim of these attacks is to pit Turks against each other and create chaos. So I call on all my citizens to keep calm,” he said.

Turkish police say that nine people in connection with Saturday’s attacks in Reyhanli.

All nine were Turkish citizens, officials said.

Saturday’s twin bombings 15 minutes apart damaged some 735 businesses and 120 apartments, leaving smoking hulks of buildings and charred cars. It also wounded dozens of people, including 50 who remain in hospital.