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Two Dead In Suicide Blast At U.S. Embassy In Turkey

February 01, 2013

A suicide bomber has killed himself and a Turkish security guard at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara.

Another person was seriously wounded in what U.S. and Turkish officials described as a "terrorist" attack.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, but Turkish officials said the bomber was believed to have been connected to a domestic left-wing militant group.

In comments broadcast on television, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a global effort to combat "terrorist elements."

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said U.S. officials were working with the Turkish authorities to investigate what she called the "terrorist blast."

Nuland said the explosion occurred at "a checkpoint on the perimeter" of the embassy compound.

The explosion damaged the compound's outer wall, blowing out the concrete around a door to the street.

Shortly after the blast, U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardone told journalists: "Right now we are all dealing with our sadness at the loss of our fellow member of our embassy. We salute his bravery, his service to Turkey and to Turkish-American friendship. Our hearts go out to his family."

Interior Minister Muammer Guler said a Turkish woman was badly wounded in the attack and that two security guards were receiving outpatient care at a hospital.

Guler also said the bomber could have belonged to the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) or a similar illegal leftist group.

Leftist activists, along with Kurdish rebels and Islamic militants, have launched attacks in recent years in Turkey.

A 2007 attack in Ankara that killed nine was blamed on a leftist suicide bomber.

The State Department warned U.S. citizens "to be alert to the potential for violence, to avoid those areas where disturbances have occurred, and to avoid demonstrations and large gatherings."

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/turkey-us-embassy-blast/24890391.html

Copyright (c) 2013. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.