TURKEY arrested nearly 200 officials from a pro-Kurdish party and struck Kurdish militants in Iraq on Monday in response to this weekend’s twin bombings claimed by a radical Kurd separatist group.

The toll from Saturday’s attacks, which struck an Istanbul football stadium and a nearby park, rose to 44 on Monday, Health Minister Recep Akdag said.

Turkish jets pounded targets in northern Iraq, with the military saying it had hit “separatist terrorist organisation members”, referring to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The armed forces said it struck targets in the Zap region of northern Iraq destroying the militants’ headquarters as well as nearby shelters and gun positions.

And Turkish police detained 198 pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) officials over alleged links to Kurdish militants in a countrywide operation, state news agency Anadolu reported.

The actions are likely to raise fears Ankara is going further in its crackdown and acting out of revenge against pro-Kurdish politicians who stand accused of links to the PKK — a charge that the HDP denies.

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, has waged a bloody campaign against the Turkish state since 1984.

VOW FOR REVENGE

A defiant President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to fight terror “to the end” as Turkey mourned 44 people killed in twin bombings that authorities said were likely the work of Kurdish militants.

The bloodshed, which took place in Istanbul late on Saturday, saw a car bomb exploding outside the home stadium of football giants Besiktas and less than a minute later, a suicide attacker blew himself up by a group of police at a nearby park.

Most of the dead were police officers, who accounted for 30 of the overall toll. The carnage prompted a sharp response from Erdogan, who defiantly vowed Ankara would “fight the scourge of terrorism right to the end”.

“They should know that they will not get away with it ... They will pay a heavier price.”

In a ceremony for five of the victims at the city’s police headquarters, officers carried in the coffins draped with flags as Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim looked on before speaking with the bereaved families.

“Sooner or later we will have our revenge,” Interior Minister Suleman Soylu told the mourners.

“The arm of the law is long”.

People also gathered outside the stadium to lay flowers, many holding Turkish flags and shouting “Down with the PKK!” and “Our homeland is indivisible!” Thousands later joined a protest march around the stadium, with some ruling party fans kicking the buses of opposition CHP supporters, prompting police to disperse the crowds.

ATTACK ‘TARGETED’ POLICE

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said the attack had targeted police. “Experts say at least 300-400 kilogrammes of explosives had been used. There was a pit where the car detonated,” he said on CNN Turk television.

Forensic experts were on Sunday collecting evidence at both the stadium and the park, an AFP correspondent said, while municipal workers could be seen clearing up the area and replacing road signs damaged in the stadium blast.

Footage broadcast shortly after the attack showed the wrecked car outside the stadium engulfed in flames with emergency services swarming around the scene.

Other footage showed wrecked police vehicles, while witnesses said the force of the blast shattered the windows of nearby homes.

BLASTS, GUNSHOTS

“I heard two explosions in less than one minute, followed by the sound of gunshots,” one witness told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Besiktas is one of Istanbul’s most popular football clubs, and its fans are known for their anti-establishment views. They famously played a big role in the 2013 protests against Erdogan, who was prime minister at the time.

In an earlier statement, Erdogan said that the name of the group behind the attack did not matter.

“Nobody should doubt that we will defeat terror, terror groups, terrorists and of course the forces behind them, with God’s help,” he said.

#BREAKING: Video of emergency vehicles near the scene of the 2 explosion in central Istanbul/ Turkey pic.twitter.com/vsMTbdwuQU — Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) December 10, 2016

In a statement, Besiktas vowed to “stand firm against the vile attackers who will never achieve their goal.” The stadium is near the Ottoman-era Dolmabahce palace that houses the premier’s office and about a kilometre (half a mile) from the busy Taksim Square, a magnet for tourists.

In June, 47 people were killed in a triple suicide bombing and gun attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport, with authorities blaming the Islamic State group.

Another 57 people including 34 children were killed in August in a suicide attack by an IS-linked bomber at a Kurdish wedding in the southeastern city of Gaziantep.

Other deadly bombings have been claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), seen as a splinter group of the PKK.

PRAYERS WITH #ISTANBUL

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg condemned the “horrific acts of terror” in Istanbul, adding: “We stand united in solidarity with our ally Turkey. We remain determined to fight terrorism in all its forms.” The US embassy in Turkey wrote on Twitter: “Our hearts and prayers are with the people of #Istanbul tonight.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel “expresses her sympathies to President Erdogan and the Turkish people following this despicable terrorist attack,” her spokesman Steffen Seibert wrote on Twitter.

Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault offered his condolences to the families of the victims following “this odious act”, adding: “In the face of the scourge of terrorism, France remains on Turkey’s side.”