86 dead and 186 injured in bomb attacks targeting peace rally in Turkish capital
Turkey’s health minister said blasts in the capital Ankara killed 86 people and 186 were injured
Two bomb explosions apparently targeting a peace rally in Turkey’s capital Ankara have killed at least 30 people, a news agency and witnesses have said.
The explosions occurred minutes apart near Ankara’s train station as people gathered for the rally organised by the country’s public sector workers’ trade union. The rally aimed to call for an end to the renewed violence between Kurdish rebels and Turkish security forces.
It was not clear if the attacks were suicide bombings. The attack comes weeks before Turkey’s November 1 elections.
Television footage from Turkey’s Dogan news agency showed several people lying injured on the streets or being taken into ambulances.
“There was a massacre in the middle of Ankara,” said Lami Ozgen, head of the Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions, or KESK. “Two bombs exploded in very short intervals.”
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called an emergency security meeting to discuss the attack.
In July, a suicide bombing blamed on the Islamic State group killed 33 people in a town near Turkey’s border with Syria.
