Turkey says Kurdish rebels behind Istanbul bombing

ISTANBUL Aug 2 (Reuters) - Turkey's interior minister said on Saturday Kurdish guerrillas were behind a double bombing in Istanbul last week which killed 17 people and said that all those involved in the attack had been caught.

The bomb blasts, 50 metres and 10 minutes apart, were the worst such attacks Turkey since 2003, when al Qaeda carried out a series of bombings in Istanbul. Some 150 people were also injured in last Sunday's blasts.

"Our judgement is that this merciless attack was the work of the bloody separatist group," Interior Minister Besir Atalay told a televised news conference.

Government officials had already indicated they suspected that the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrilla group was responsible for the attack. The PKK has denied involvement. (Reporting by Daren Butler; Editing by Jon Boyle)

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