REYHANLI, Turkey: Turkey recovered on Monday the bodies of two more people killed in the twin bombings near the Syrian border town of Reyhanli, pushing up the death toll to 48 as many others remained missing.
The bodies were found in a sewer near the blast zones in the southeastern border town two days after twin car bombings which Ankara blamed on a radical Marxist group affiliated with the Damascus regime.
Cranes were still operating on Monday to remove the rubble as officials tried to estimate the damage spread over a several kilometre radius around the blast zones.
The attacks were the deadliest case of what observers see as an increasing regionalisation of the conflict that started in March 2011 and came as key brokers Washington and Moscow made an unprecedented joint push for peace talks.
Ankara said on Sunday Damascus had crossed a "red line" and it reserved the right to "take any kind of measure" in response.
Nine people Ankara says were backed by the Syrian government were arrested on Sunday over the bombings.
Damascus has denied involvement in the attacks.
Ankara said it was holding suspects who had confessed and accused Syria of dragging Turkey into its civil war.
"They want to drag us down a vile path," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, urging Turks to be "level-headed in the face of each provocation aimed at drawing Turkey into the Syrian quagmire." (AFP)
