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Ankara rocked by deadly car bomb explosion
At least 28 people have been killed and 61 more wounded in a large explosion targeting a military vehicle in heart of the Turkish capital of Ankara.

Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Gaziantep, said initial reports suggested a car bomb had caused the explosion on Wednesday night and the target had been Turkey’s military personnel, who were travelling in a separate vehicle. The death toll rose steadily on Wednesday night, with those wounded in the blast sent to hospitals across the city.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for an urgent emergency meeting with top level security officials in Ankara.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but government officials said they were treating the incident as a “terrorist” attack.

Analysts and unnamed Turkish officials said the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) armed group would be among the leading suspects.
They usually are whether they did it or not. But we also might consider how a Rooshun-backed group might do this about now, and ensure that the PKK gets the blame...
The explosion was heard across the capital when it went off at about 6.15pm local time.

The attack happened at the height of evening rush hour, not far from Turkey’s parliament, government buildings and military headquarters. Witnesses shared images on social media showing a large plume of smoke rising into the sky and and local news footage showed a large fire burning at the site of the explosion.

“This is really in the heart of the Turkish capital – it is clearly a message to the Turkish government,” Khodr said. “This is the fourth major explosion in Turkey in the past few months.”

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said in a speech that the “blatant, treacherous attack” was well organised.

Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Twitter the attack was an act of terrorism. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who had been due to leave for a trip to Brussels later on Wednesday, cancelled the trip, an official in his office said.

Turkey has become a target for ISIL, with two bombings last year blamed on the armed group in the town of Suruc near the Syrian border and in the capital Ankara. The latter killed more than 100 people.
Posted by: Steve White 2016-02-18
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=445751