Istanbul
cnn
—
Two terrorists carried out a bomb attack outside Turkey’s Interior Ministry building in Ankara, the Turkish capital, before the opening of parliament on Sunday, authorities said.
Two police officers suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the attack, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The attackers arrived in a light commercial vehicle in front of the building entrance at around 9:30 local time, Yerlikaya. One attacker blew himself up and the other was “neutralized.”
Security footage of the incident obtained by Reuters shows a vehicle slowing down on the street near the building’s closed entrance.
The vehicle stops and the driver’s side door slowly opens. One individual gets out while a second emerges from the other side of the car. The second person approaches the entrance in a tactical stance, although it is unclear if the attacker is carrying a firearm, while the first person hides behind the car. The moving attacker quickly passes by what appears to be a guard tower. Then a huge explosion occurs.
Then, through the smoke, the outlines of what appears to be the first attacker move toward the door before the 40-second clip ends.
The apparent watchtower in front of the building’s entrance was slightly damaged by the explosion. Police have since cordoned off the area, and video from the scene from CNN affiliate CNN Turk appeared to show a bomb squad searching the area for other suspicious packages.
A bomb found on the body of the neutralized terrorist was detonated after the attack in a controlled explosion, one of at least two that could be heard on television images.
Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said an investigation into the incident has been launched.
“These attacks will in no way hinder Turkey’s fight against terrorism,” Tunc said in X. “Our fight against terrorism will continue with even more determination.”
The attack occurred just hours before lawmakers were due to return to work after summer break at 2 p.m.
No group had claimed responsibility as of Sunday morning.
Terrorist attacks in Türkiye were tragically common mid to late 2010swhen insecurity in war-torn Syria spread northwards over the two countries’ shared border.
Ankara suffered two attacks by Kurdish attackers in 2016, one targeting military personnel on a bus and another at a bus stop.
Twin bombings in 2015 which targeted a peace demonstration near the capital’s main train station, claimed the lives of almost 100 people.