Updated 20.22
AT LEAST 28 PEOPLE have died with 61 wounded after a car bombing targeting military service vehicles in the Turkish capital Ankara.
The updated death toll was relayed by the country’s deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmus to reporters.
It is being reported that the explosion occurred near a military building. It is understood to have been targeting vehicles that were carrying military personnel.
Officials believe the explosion was caused by a car bomb.
Kurtulmus condemned the attack and vowed to “shed all light” on the bombing, but said there was no indication yet who may have carried it out. The toll substantially raised the previously reported toll of 18 dead.
The explosion has forced the cancellation of an EU-Turkey mini-summit on refugees according to EU sources.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan this evening vowed that Turkey was more determined than ever to use its right to “self-defence” in the wake of the deadly attack.
“Our determination to respond in kind to attacks taking place inside and outside our borders is getting stronger with such acts,” Erdogan said in a statement.
It must be known that Turkey will not shy away from using its right to self-defence at any time, any place or any occasion.
AFP said that plumes of smoke could be seen rising over an area close to a residential compound for the military.
CNN Turkey is reporting that military vehicles were targeted, and that people have been injured.
AP reports that Turkey’s state-run agency says the government has imposed a media gag order following the bombing.
The Anadolu Agency said that the gag order bans media organisations from broadcasting or printing graphic images of the dead or injured from the scene of the explosion. The blast occurred in an area near military headquarters and parliament.
Turkey has imposed similar bans after previous attacks.
Turkey’s prime minister has cancelled a planned visit to Brussels following the explosion.
Ambulances and fire brigades are on their way to the scene.
Additional reporting from AFP and AP
Originally published 17.10
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