Blast in Turkey border town kills at least 10

Ankara 

At least 10 people were killed on Monday in an explosion in the centre of the Turkish town of Suruc near the border with Syria, local television reported.

The cause of the blast in the town -- which lies opposite the Syrian flashpoint of Kobane -- was not immediately clear.

But several media reports said it might have been a bomb and some commentators said it could have been the work of Islamist State (IS) militants. 

Several Turkish media reported fatalities and private television station NTV said at least 10 people had been killed.

Witnesses said fire broke out after the explosion and television footage showed ambulances rushing to the scene.

A Turkish government official confirmed that the explosion occurred in the garden of a culture centre in Suruc. But he declined to provide any casualty figures.

Suruc is home to one of the biggest refugee camps housing Syrians who have fled the bloody conflict at home.

The camp, which opened in January, shelters about 35,000 refugees who crossed the border after Islamic State jihadists seized Kobane last year.

Kurdish forces drove IS fighters from Kobane in June, taking full control of the town after a lightning raid by the Islamist militants.