A car bomb detonated in the Turkish capital Wednesday near vehicles carrying military personnel, killing at least 28 people and wounding at least 61 others, officials said.
\nThe explosion occurred during evening rush hour in the heart of Ankara, in an area close to parliament and armed forces headquarters. Buses carrying military personnel were targeted while waiting at traffic lights at an intersection, the Turkish military said while condemning the \u201ccontemptible and dastardly\u201d attack.
\n\u201cWe believe that those who lost their lives included our military brothers as well as civilians,\u201d Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said.
\nAt least two military vehicles caught fire and dozens of ambulances were sent to the scene. Dark smoke could be seen billowing from a distance.
\nThere was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Kurtulmus pledged that authorities would find those behind the bombing. He said the government had appointed seven prosecutors to investigate the attack, which he described as being \u201cwell-planned.\u201d
\nKurdish rebels, ISIS and a leftist extremist group have carried out attacks in the country recently. In October, suicide bombings blamed on ISIS targeted a peace rally outside the main train station in Ankara, killing 102 people in Turkey’s deadliest attack in years.
\nThe deputy prime minister said the violence would not deter Turkey from its fight against terror groups.
\n\u201cWe will never give up on our determination in our fight against terrorism. Whoever is behind this (attack), whoever gave its support, we will find them and bring them to account,\u201d Kurtulmus said.<\/p>\n
‘Array of challenges’<\/strong> U.S. reactions<\/strong> Source: Alarabiya<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A car bomb detonated in the Turkish capital Wednesday near vehicles carrying military personnel, killing at least 28 people and wounding at least 61 others, officials said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5619,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c59-islamic-world"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nWednesday\u2019s attack comes at a tense time when the Turkish government is facing an array of challenges. A fragile peace process with Kurdish rebels collapsed in the summer and renewed fighting has displaced tens of thousands of civilians.
\nTurkey has also been helping efforts led by the United States to combat ISIS in neighboring Syria, and has faced several deadly bombings in the last year that were blamed on ISIS.
\nTurkey, which is already home to 2.5 million Syrian refugees, has also been a key focus of European Union efforts to halt the biggest flow of refugees to the continent since World War II.
\nHundreds, sometimes thousands, of refugees leave every night from Turkey to cross the sea to Greece in smugglers\u2019 boats.<\/p>\n
\nThe United States on Wednesday forcefully condemned a deadly car bomb targeting the Turkish military in Ankara, reaffirming U.S. solidarity with its NATO partner and key regional ally.
\n“The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack on Turkish military personnel and civilians today in Ankara, Turkey,” deputy State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement.
\nNational Security Council spokesman Ned Price called Turkey a “valued member” of the coalition fighting ISIS and pledged Washington’s “ongoing cooperation and support in the fight against terrorism.”<\/p>\n