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Turkey
The car used by the attackers in Ankara in front of the general security directorate on October 1, 2023. Photo: AA
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Two police officers were wounded in an attack on Ankara’s general security directorate on Sunday, the interior ministry said, adding that one of the attackers blew himself up and the other was “neutralized.”
“At around 09:30, two terrorists who came with a light commercial vehicle in front of the entrance gate of the general security directorate of our interior ministry, carried out a bomb attack,” Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said in a statement on X.
Yerlikaya labeled the incident as a “terrorist attack” and said that one of the attackers blew himself up while the other was “neutralized.”
Two police officers were “slightly wounded” in an exchange of fire between the attackers and security forces, according to Yerlikaya.
Ankara’s chief prosecutor has launched an investigation into the attack and “a ban was issued on access to information and broadcast,” state media said.
The People’s Defense Forces (HPG), the military arm of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), later in the day claimed responsibility for the explosion. The attack, described as a suicide bombing, was carried out by a HPG unit named Brigade of Immortals, according to the statement from the group.
“This action is an act of legitimate defense against the disregard of human rights that are being trampled on against national and international laws; against the inhumane practice and policy of isolation that is being implemented in all the jails of Turkey and Kurdistan,” read the HPG statement.
The location of the attack is near the Turkish parliament and ministerial buildings in Ankara, and the main boulevard near the entrance of the parliament building was closed to traffic due to the explosion.
On Sunday afternoon, Yerlikaya told journalists in a press conference that the lives of the two wounded police officers were not in danger, and they continue their treatment at the hospital, adding that Ankara police launched an investigation regarding the incident.
“Let us find out the details [of the attack], and we will share them [results of investigation] with our beloved nation,” he said.
While thanking the country’s justice ministry for issuing the ban on access to information and broadcast regarding the incident, Yerlikaya warned the social media users who share footage of the incident online.
“I warn those who share these footages on social media to delete these footages, and show that they are with us in brotherhood, solidarity, and unity,” he said.
During a speech at the reopening session of the parliament following its summer recess, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Sunday’s attack was “the last struggle of terrorism.”
“The scoundrels who threaten the peace and security of the citizens have not achieved their goals, and will never achieve them,” Erdogan said.
Ankara’s attack comes nearly a year after a TNT explosion killed six people and injured 81 others in Istanbul’s famous Istiklal street.
Turkish authorities did not identify any specific group to be behind the attack.
Updated at 10:30 pm with HPG
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