Kurdish militant group TAK claims Ankara bombing

The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) militant group claimed responsibility Thursday for a suicide bomb attack that killed 37 people in Turkey’s capital of Ankara.

In a statement on its website, the group described the attack as revenge for operations by the Turkish military that have killed hundreds of people in the mainly Kurdish southeast of the country.

The bomb exploded in the central Kizilay neighborhood Sunday. TAK said it was targeting security forces, and did not intend to kill civilians.

TAK, which is considered an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), previously claimed responsibility for another car bombing in Ankara that killed 28 people last month.

Turkish fighter jets bombed PKK bases in Iraq on Monday following this week's attack. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and the United States.

Germany closed its embassy in Ankara as well as its consulate and a German school in Istanbul on Thursday, after authorities received a security warning Wednesday night. Twelve German citizens were killed in a suicide attack in Istanbul in January that was claimed by the Islamic State.