Terrorists detonate bomb near Turkish govt building

Ankara: A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device in the heart of the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Sunday A second assailant was killed in a shootout with police, the interior minister said.

The attack occurred hours before Parliament was set to reopen after its three-month summer recess with an address by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Two police officers were slightly injured during the attack near an entrance to the Ministry of Interior Affairs, minister Ali Yerlikaya said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. The assailants arrived at the scene inside a light commercial vehicle.

“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.

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.

Security camera footage on Sunday showed a vehicle stopping 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.

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.

Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said an investigation has been launched into the “terror attack.”

“These attacks will in no way hinder Turkiye’s fight against terrorism,” he wrote on X. “Our fight against terrorism will continue with more determination.”