Nine Turkish Citizens Held Over Car Bombs

Nine Turkish citizens have been detained in connection with car bombs that killed 46 people near Turkey's border with Syria.

Turkey's interior minister Muammer Guler said an "organisation which is in close contact to pro-regime groups in Syria" was behind the attacks in Reyhanli.

Among the nine people held was the mastermind of the attack and more were expected, Mr Guler said.

"We have determined that some of them were involved in the planning, in the exploration and in the hiding of the vehicles," he added.

Speaking a day after the attacks, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country would not fall for a "dirty scenario" and be dragged into the conflict with Syria.

"We have to maintain our extreme cool-bloodedness in the face of efforts and provocations to drag us into the bloody quagmire in Syria," said Mr Erdogan.

However, the Syrian government has strongly rejected claims it had anything to do with the attacks.

"Syria didn't and will never undertake such acts because our values don't allow us to do this," said the country's information minister, Omran al Zoubi, during a news conference.

The two car bombs ripped into crowded streets near Reyhanli's shopping district on May 11, scattering concrete blocks, smashing cars and destroying restaurants and cafes.

More than 140 people were wounded, and many were left in a serious condition, officials said.

Foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said Turkey reserves the right to take "every kind of measure" to protect itself.

"No one should attempt to test Turkey's power," he said. "Our security forces will take all necessary measures."

However, he said there was no need for an emergency meeting of Nato - which would be the first step towards involving the alliance in any possible response.

The US has also condemned the attacks and vowed support in identifying those responsible.

Secretary of State John Kerry said: "We stand with our ally, Turkey.

"This awful news strikes an especially personal note for all of us given how closely we work in partnership with Turkey, and how many times Turkey's been a vital interlocutor at the centre of my work as Secretary of State these last three months."

Photojournalist Bradley Secker, in Reyhanli, told Sky News that he had seen two cars with Syrian number plates in the wreckage.

"One is upside down and one people are attacking," he said.

"The police and the Turkish military have been very cautious about who they are letting into the scene and the Syrians have fled back to their houses."

Reyhanli, which has a population of about 60,000, lies just a few miles from the Cilvegozu crossing opposite Syria's Bab al Hawa border post.

The border area has witnessed a number of attacks as the conflict in Syria has spilt over into Turkey, a one-time Syria ally but now one of its harshest critics.

In February, Turkey blamed Syrian intelligence agents for a car bomb attack at Cilvegozu that killed 17 people and wounded another 30.

Four Syrians and a Turk are in custody in connection with the February attack.

Most of the victims of that blast were Syrians who were waiting to be processed before they entered Turkey and a Syrian opposition faction said the blast narrowly missed 13 leaders of their group.

Turkey has taken in around 400,000 refugees as well as Syrian army defectors. It has repeatedly called on the international community to act on the crisis.

The opposition Syrian National Coalition has also blamed Mr Assad's regime for the twin blasts.

It said in a statement: "The coalition sees these heinous terrorist acts as an attempt to take revenge on the Turkish people and punish them for their honourable support for the Syrian people, including their welcoming of Syrian refugees who have fled the regime's crimes in their villages and cities."