Two car bombs exploded near the Turkish border with Syria on Saturday, killing at least 40 people and injuring scores more in the town of Reyhanli.

"Two cars exploded in front of the municipality building and the post office in Reyhanli," Interior Minister Muammer Guler said in comments on Turkish television.

Reyhanli, in the southern Hatay province, is in an area known to be home to many refugees. There are more than 300,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey, most of them in camps along the volatile border.

President Bashar Assad's administration was the "usual suspect" in the attacks, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said. 

"We know that the people taking refuge in Hatay have become targets for the Syrian regime," Arinc said in comments broadcast on Turkish television. "We think of them as the usual suspects when it comes to planning such a horrific attack." 

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There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Nor was there any comment from Damascus.

Turkey PM: Red line has been crossed

Speaking to reporters during a visit to Berlin, Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the country would protect itself if threatened.

Turkey supports the uprising against beleaguered Assad and has been a vocal critic against the regime.

"There may be those who want to sabotage Turkey's peace, but we will not allow that," he said. "No one should attempt to test Turkey's power; our security forces will take all necessary measures."

The United States condemned the attacks and vowed solidarity with Turkey in identifying those responsible.

"The United States condemns today's car bombings and we stand with our ally, Turkey," read a statement from Secretary of State John Kerry. "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 center of my work as Secretary of State these last three months. Our thoughts are with the wounded and we extend our deepest condolences to the families of the victims."

"The United States strongly condemns today's vicious attack, and stands with the people and government of Turkey to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice," U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Francis Ricciardone said in a statement.    

NBC News Correspondent Richard Engel and Reuters contributed to this report.

 

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A car bomb attack killed six people, including three U.S. soldiers and an Afghan doctor, in southern Afghanistan on Saturday and an American civilian died in a separate attack in the east, local and international officials said.

The attacks came as the top U.S. general, Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in the country for a short visit to assess how much training Afghan troops need before U.S. troops pull out as planned by the end of 2014.

The American troops were traveling in a convoy of vehicles in Qalat, the capital of Zabul province, when the car bomb exploded. Provincial governor Mohammad Ashraf Nasery was unharmed but a local doctor and two foreign civilians also died, according to local and NATO officials.

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The convoy was near a hospital and a NATO base at the time of the explosion. Five Afghans, including a student and two reporters, were wounded, a local official said.

 

 

In a separate attack in Afghanistan's east, an American civilian working with the U.S. government was killed during an insurgent attack, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said in a statement.

Zabul shares borders with Pakistan to the southeast and the birthplace of the Taliban, Kandahar province, to the south.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the Zabul attack in a text message from spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi. He said a car bomb killed seven foreigners and wounded five others, though he later revised the toll to 13 foreigners killed and nine wounded.

The Taliban routinely exaggerates casualty figures.

The killings come in the wake of a bloody Taliban assault in the country's west on Wednesday that killed 44 people in a courtroom in Farah province. The United Nations says civilians are being increasingly targeted in 2013.

In a statement posted online earlier on Saturday, Taliban spokesman Ahmadi said the Taliban would continue to target Afghan judges and prosecutors.

"The Islamic Emirate, from today onwards, will keep a close watch over courthouses, all its personnel and all those who try to harm Mujahideen and will deal with them the same as the judges and prosecutors of Farah."

 

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Updated at 8:11 a.m. ET: A suicide car bomber struck early Monday at the gates of Jalalabad airport in eastern Afghanistan, killing nine people in a large blast, officials said.

Among the dead were six civilians, two airport guards and one soldier, Mohammad said. Another six people were wounded, he said.

An AP photographer saw at least four destroyed cars at the gates of the airport.

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The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide attack, that they also say killed a number of U.S. soldiers and members of the Afghan interior ministry, a spokesman told NBC News.

"Our suicide bomber carried out suicide attack at a time when the U.S. troops opened the main entrance for change of the night time shift at the airport. Besides American soldiers, a number of Afghanistan interior ministry personnel working (with) the U.S. troops were also killed in the attack," the Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told NBC News.

He said it was revenge of the desecration of holy Quran allegedly by U.S. forces at the Bagram airbase.

But NATO forces spokesman Capt. Justin Brockhoff said that no international forces were killed in the early morning attack and that the installation was not breached by the blast.

Escalating violence
The blast comes a day after demonstrators hurled grenades at a U.S. base in northern Afghanistan, and a gun battle left two Afghans dead and seven NATO troops injured Sunday in the escalating crisis over the burning of Muslim holy books at an American airfield.

More than 30 people have been killed, including four U.S. troops, in six days of unrest. Still, the top U.S. diplomat in Afghanistan said the violence would not change Washington's course.

"Tensions are running very high here, and I think we need to let things calm down, return to a more normal atmosphere, and then get on with business," Ambassador Ryan Crocker told CNN's "State of the Union."

"This is not the time to decide that we're done here," he said. "We have got to redouble our efforts. We've got to create a situation in which al-Qaida is not coming back."

Story: Eight US soldiers wounded in Afghan NATO base attack

The attack on the base came a day after two U.S. military advisers — a lieutenant colonel and a major — were found dead after being shot in the head in their office at the Interior Ministry in the heart of the capital. The building is one of the city's most heavily guarded buildings, and the slayings raised doubts about safety as coalition troops continue their withdrawal.

The incident prompted NATO, Britain and France to recall hundreds of international advisers from all Afghan ministries in the capital. The advisers are key to helping improve governance and preparing the country's security forces to take on more responsibility.

A manhunt was under way for the main suspect in the shooting — an Afghan man who worked as a driver for an office on the same floor as the advisers who were killed, Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi said. He did not provide further details about the suspect or his possible motive.

Story: Afghan officer sought in connection with US slayings

The Taliban claimed that the shooter was one of their sympathizers and that an accomplice had helped him get into the compound to kill the Americans in retaliation for the Quran burnings.

Afghanistan's defense and interior ministers were to visit Washington this week, but they called off the trip to consult with other Afghan officials and religious leaders on how to stop the violence, Pentagon press secretary George Little said. The Afghan officials had planned to meet with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey.

The protesters in Kunduz province in the north threw hand grenades to express their anger at the way some Qurans and other Islamic texts were disposed of in a burn pit last week at Bagram Air Field, north of Kabul.

 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.