The New York Times reports: A large explosion at a cultural center in the Turkish town of Suruc, near Syria, on Monday killed at least 28 people and wounded 100 others, the prime minister’s office said.

Turkish government officials have called the bombing a terrorist attack and said that initial evidence suggested that two suicide bombers had caused it.

“We believe today’s terrorist attack to be an act of retaliation against the Turkish government’s continued effort to fight terrorism,” said an official at the office of Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

The attack took place two weeks after Turkey stepped up efforts to combat Islamic extremists through a series of raids that resulted in arrests across the country. On Saturday, Turkish security forces arrested nearly 500 people trying to cross into Syria through Turkey. [Continue reading…]