A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device in the heart of the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Sunday. It has been reported that a second assailant was killed in a shootout with police, the interior minister said. On sunday morning, the massive attack occurred hours before Parliament was set to reopen after its three-month summer recess with an address by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
About the incident
A per the security camera footage, a vehicle stopped in front of the ministry, with a man exiting it and rushing toward the entrance of the building before blowing himself up. A second man is seen following him.
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Earlier, television footage showed bomb squads working near a vehicle in the area, which is located near the Turkish Grand National Assembly and other government buildings. A rocket launcher could be seen lying near the vehicle.
Turkish authorities later imposed a temporary blackout on images from the scene.
Police Investigation underway
In light of the tense situation in Ankara, police cordoned off access to the city center and beefed up security measures, warning citizens that they would be conducting controlled explosions of suspicious packages.
The two police officers were being treated in a hospital and were not in serious condition, minister Ali Yerlikaya said.
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Two police officers were injured as the storng explosion reverberated throught the Turkish capital Ankara near an entrance to the Ministry of Interior Affairs, Yerlikaya said on X. The video footage of the incident showed that the assailants arrived at the scene inside a light commercial vehicle.
What did the minister say?
“Our heroic police officers, through their intuition, resisted the terrorists as soon as they got out of the vehicle,” Yerlikaya later told reporters.
“One of them blew himself up while the other one was shot in the head before he had a chance to blow himself up.”
“Our fight against terrorism, their collaborators, the (drug) dealers, gangs and organized crime organisations will continue with determination,” he said.
The minister did not say who was behind the attack and there was no immediate claim of responsibility.
History of blasts in Turkey
Kurdish and far-left militant groups as well as the Islamic State group have carried out deadly attacks throughout the country in the past.
Last year, a bomb blast in a bustling pedestrian street in Istanbul left six people dead, including two children.More than 80 others were wounded. Turkiye blamed the attack on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, as well as Syrian Kurdish groups affiliated with it.
