At least 28 people were killed and 61 wounded by a car bomb targeting the Turkish military in the heart of the capital Ankara, the latest in a string of attacks to shake the country, reports AFP.
The blast struck a convoy of military vehicles, said Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus, confirming the latest toll. It was unclear who had carried out the attack.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed retaliation against the perpetrators of the attack, which came on the heels of a spate of deadly strikes in Turkey blamed on jihadists and also Kurdish rebels.
The car bomb detonated when a convoy of military buses carrying dozens of soldiers stopped at traffic lights in central Ankara, sparking panic and chaos.
“This attack has very clearly targeted our esteemed nation as a whole and was carried out in a vile, dishonourable, treacherous and insidious way,” said Kurtulmus.
Plumes of smoke could be seen from all over the city rising from the scene, close to the headquarters of the Turkish military and the parliament.
The powerful blast was heard throughout Ankara, sending alarmed residents rushing to their balconies.
“I saw a huge fireball growing,” 25-year-old witness Gurkan, who said he was standing 500 metres (yards) from the scene, told AFP.
“People started to run in all directions in panic as soon as we heard a strong explosion.”
The army said the attack took place at 1631 GMT and had targeted “service vehicles carrying army personnel”.
Info : samakal.net
