Bomb Blast Kills Three in Ankara, Turkey

By Palash Ghosh | September 20 2011 8:27 AM

A major bomb blast in Ankara, Turkey has killed at least three people and wounded fifteen others, according to the country’s Interior Minister, Idris Naim Sahin.

Reuters

Flames are seen in a street after a blast in central Ankara

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Reportedly, the explosion was caused by a car bomb, causing a fire which also damaged other vehicles and a building, and was detonated in front of the Çankaya District Governor's Office and a primary school.

Police have cordoned off the area, fearing the possibility of more explosions.

Sahin indicated that “it is highly likely the explosion was a terrorist attack.”

Today’s Zaman, an English-language newspaper, said Ankara police are considering that if it was a terrorist attack, it might have been carried out by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been stepping up its terrorist activities in recent weeks.

The PKK is regarded as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States. The Ankara government has been engaged in a battle with the PKK for 27 years, at the cost of thousands of lives.

However, other reports claim that the blast might have been caused by a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tank explosion.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul, currently on a state visit to Germany, condemned the attack and offered condolences to the victims’ families.