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ankara bombing

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At least 28 people have been killed and scores injured in a rush-hour car bombing targeting military personnel in Ankara, Turkey.

Ankara Governor Mehmet Kiliçer said the explosion was aimed at a convoy of military vehicles as it passed through the administrative center of the Turkish state, close to parliament, government buildings and Turkey’s military headquarters.

Deputy PM Numan Kurtulmus confirmed that the attack was carried out with a car bomb, but added that the perpetrators had not yet been identified.

“We do not yet know the perpetrators,” he told reporters.

Photo Reuters

Photo Reuters

“This attack did not only target our military personnel in those shuttles. This attack openly targets our entire nation. We condemn those who carried it out, those who instrumentalized the perpetrators, and those who gave logistical, intelligence and even political support to such attacks.”

An official at the armed forces’ general staff confirmed military buses had been the target, hit by an explosive-laden car as they waited at traffic lights.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the attack would only strengthen Turkey’s resolve against insurgents.

PM Ahmet Davutoğlu cancelled a trip to Brussels to attend a security briefing. He said the authorities were looking into information they have received about the explosion on Wednesday night, February 17.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a statement saying: “We will continue our fight against the pawns that carry out such attacks, which know no moral or humanitarian bounds, and the forces behind them with more determination every day.”

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Security sources told Reuters that “initial signs [indicated] that militants from Turkey’s outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were behind the Ankara bombing on Wednesday”. This has not been confirmed.

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At least 86 people have been killed and other 186 injured after two explosions hit Turkey’s capital Ankara during a peace rally, according to officials.

TV footage showed scenes of panic and people lying on the ground covered in blood, amid protest banners.

The twin blasts took place near Ankara’s central train station as people gathered for a march organized by leftist groups.

The attack is the deadliest of its kind in modern Turkish history.

PM Ahmet Davutoglu has announced three days of national mourning, and said there was evidence that two suicide bombers had carried out the attacks.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the attack, which comes weeks before an election, was an act of terrorism and was “loathsome”.Ankara bombing death toll

The rally was demanding an end to the violence between the Kurdish separatist PKK militants and the Turkish government, and had been due to start at 12:00 local time.

The pro-Kurdish HDP party was among those attending, and it said in a statement that it believes its members were the main target of the bombings.

The leader of the HDP has blamed the state for the attack, which he called “a huge massacre”, and cancelled all election rallies.

The party has previously blamed the government for colluding in attacks on Kurdish activists, which the government denies.

The two explosions happened shortly after 10:00 local time as crowds gathered ahead of the rally. Amateur video footage showed a group of young people holding hands and singing, before the first blast.

Meanwhile, the PKK called on its fighters to halt its guerrilla activities in Turkey unless attacked first. A statement from an umbrella group that includes the PKK said its forces would “make no attempts to hinder or harm the exercise of a fair and equal election”.

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