28 killed by Ankara car bomb targeting military personnel

28 killed by Ankara car bomb targeting military personnel –

BBC – A large explosion in the Turkish capital, Ankara, has left at least 28 people dead and 61 injured, Turkish officials have said.

A vehicle full of explosives was detonated as military buses were passing by, according to the Ankara governor’s office.

The blast happened in an area close to parliament and Turkey’s military headquarters.

Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag called it an “act of terrorism”.

Large plumes of smoke were seen rising from the area and witnesses said the blast was heard all over the city.

Some of the victims were civilians.

Ambulances and fire engines were sent to the scene.

Security forces carried out a controlled explosion on a suspect package after the blast.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was more determined than ever to use “its right to self-defence”.

In a statement released several hours after the attack, he said: “Our determination to respond in kind to attacks taking place inside and outside our borders is getting stronger with such acts.”

Mr Erdogan has cancelled a planned trip to Azerbaijan on Thursday, Reuters reports.

It is not clear who was behind the latest violence; security sources blamed both so-called Islamic State (IS) and militants from the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Reuters reported.