At least 28 killed in car bomb attack in Turkish capital Ankara

  • 18/02/2016
Cars of emergency services arrive after the attack in Ankara, Turkey (Reuters)
Cars of emergency services arrive after the attack in Ankara, Turkey (Reuters)

At least 28 people have been killed and 61 injured in Turkey's capital Ankara after a car laden with explosives detonated next to military buses near the armed forces' headquarters, parliament and other government buildings.

The Ankara governor Mehmet Kilicer said the explosion was aimed at a convoy of military vehicles as it passed through the administrative centre of the Turkish state, according to The Guardian.

An official of the armed forces' general staff confirmed military buses had been the target.

The Turkish military has condemned what it described as a terrorist attack on the buses.

President Recep Tayyip Erdongan said the attack would only strengthen Turkey's resolve against insurgents, The Guardian reports.

At least 28 killed in car bomb attack in Turkish capital Ankara

(Reuters)

The blast took place near a busy intersection less than 500 metres from parliament during the evening rush hour.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag described the attack as an act of terrorism and told parliament, which was in session when the blast occurred, that the car had exploded on a part of the street lined on both sides by military vehicles.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who had been due to leave for meetings in Brussels later on Wednesday, cancelled the trip, an official in his office said.

President Tayyip Erdogan postponed a planned visit to Azerbaijan.

A senior Turkish security source said initial signs indicated that Kurdish militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were responsible.

Separate security sources in the mainly Kurdish southeast, however, said they believed Islamic State (IS) militants may have been behind the bombing.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

"I heard a huge explosion. There was smoke and a really strong smell even though we were blocks away," a witness told Reuters. "We could immediately hear ambulance and police car sirens rushing to the scene."

At least 28 killed in car bomb attack in Turkish capital Ankara

(Reuters)

A health ministry official said the authorities were still trying to determine the number of dead and wounded, who had been taken to several hospitals in the area.

Images on social media showed the charred wreckage of at least two buses and a car. The explosion, which came shortly after 6.30pm local time, sent a large plume of smoke above central Ankara.

Turkey, a NATO member, faces multiple security threats.

It is part of a US-led coalition fighting IS in neighbouring Syria and Iraq, and has been shelling Kurdish militia fighters in northern Syria in recent days.

It has also been battling PKK militants in its own southeast where a two-and-a-half year ceasefire collapsed last July, plunging the region into its worst violence since the 1990s.

Reuters / Newshub.