According to the Ministry of Interior, two attackers, including a suicide bomber, have carried out a blast in the heart of the Turkish capital. The authorities have launched an investigation into the “terrorist” attack.
Both attackers were killed, with one of them blowing himself up. Two police officers were wounded in the blast, marking the first explosion in the capital city in years.
The attackers drove up to the main entrance of the building and detonated the explosion in an area that houses ministerial buildings and parliament, as stated by the interior minister. One of the attackers was killed in the blast, and the other was “neutralised” by the authorities.
Post-blast footage captured by Reuters showed a Renault cargo vehicle parked with shattered windows and open doors, surrounded by debris on the street. Soldiers, police, ambulances, fire trucks, and armoured vehicles were present at the scene.
This bombing on Ataturk Boulevard is the first in Ankara since 2016 and coincides with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s attendance at the opening session of parliament, located one kilometre away.
A senior Turkish official informed Reuters that the attackers hijacked the vehicle and killed its driver in Kayseri, a city 260km southeast of Ankara, before carrying out the attack. One of the injured officers sustained shrapnel injuries.
“Two terrorists came with a light commercial vehicle in front of the entrance gate of the General Directorate of Security of our Ministry of Internal Affairs and carried out a bomb attack,” stated Ali Yerlikaya, the interior minister, on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
He added that one attacker blew himself up, while the other was “neutralised,” which typically means killed. The incident occurred at 9:30 am (06:30 GMT), resulting in slight injuries to the two officers.
Police have also announced their intention to carry out controlled explosions for “suspicious package incidents” in other parts of Ankara.
No specific armed group has been identified by the authorities.
This incident occurs nearly a year after an explosion in a busy pedestrian street in central Istanbul, which resulted in six deaths and 81 injuries. Turkey attributed the explosion to Kurdish militants.
Erdogan was scheduled to attend the opening of parliament at 7:30 pm. In the coming weeks, the parliament is expected to consider ratifying Sweden’s bid to join NATO, after Turkey initially raised objections and delayed the bloc’s enlargement.
President of the European Council, Charles Michel, strongly condemned what he referred to as a “terrorist” attack. EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, expressed support for Turkey “in its fight against terrorism.”
Source from www.aljazeera.com