Turkey issues arrest warrants for Syrian Kurdish leader

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey's state-run news agency says authorities have issued arrest warrants for 48 Kurdish militants, including the leader of a U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish group.

Anadolu Agency says the warrants were issued Tuesday in connection with a suicide bomb attack in February in Ankara. The attack which killed 29 people was claimed by a Kurdish militant group linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

Anadolu said those wanted include two alleged PKK leaders currently in exile in Europe, three PKK commanders who are believed to be based in northern Iraq, and Saleh Muslim, the leader of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party, or PYD.

Ankara says the PYD and its armed wing are an extension of the PKK in Syria. All three are designated as terror organizations.