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Bomb in Turkish capital kills five, injures dozens |
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Written by Reuters
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Tuesday, 22 May 2007 16:20 |
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A powerful bomb outside a crowded shopping mall in the heart of Turkey's capital Ankara killed five people and injured at least 60 on Tuesday, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said.
"We have seen a vicious, ruthless terror attack at Ankara's busiest time," Erdogan told reporters at the scene of the blast in the city's historic Ulus district. He said steps would be taken after the attack but did not elaborate.
The blast came ahead of the busy summer tourism season and July general polls. It was believed to be the worst in at least a decade to strike near Turkey's power centre, which houses the influential armed forces, the presidency and the government.
Erdogan said four Turks and one Pakistani were killed in the rush hour blast. Four Pakistanis were also among the wounded.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Health Minister Recep Akdag told reporters more than 80 people were injured, mostly with light wounds.
Turkish broadcasters CNN Turk and NTV said police were studying whether the bomb was placed in a package by a bus stop or if it was the work of a suicide bomber.
A security source, who declined to be named, told all eyes were on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) -- which is waging an armed struggle against the state for greater Kurdish rights -- as the bombing bore the hallmarks of the rebels.
Parts of the mall's entrance collapsed, shop windows were blown out, debris was strewn across the street and police cordoned off the area as rescue workers carried injured people, many covered in blood, to ambulances.
"This is the most horrific scene I have ever seen. It gives me great grief," Ankara Mayor Melih Gokcek said.
Three bodies, badly mutilated, were still lying in the street in front of the 5-storey building where the blast occurred, a witness said.
Mehmet Yilmaz, a shop owner in the area, told Turkish television he saw someone on fire and tried to put out the flames by covering him with rugs and water.
"We were very scared. It was chaotic and our windows were crushed. We ran outside to save ourselves. People were screaming," said Murat, 35, who declined to give his full name.
PKK LINKS?
Turkish media said the injured Pakistanis were in Ankara for a defense industry fair organized by the Turkish armed forces.
Police officers at the scene said A-4 plastic explosives were believed to the cause of the blast. A-4 is among the preferred explosives used by the outlawed PKK.
Police have detained seven people in connection with the bomb, Turkish broadcaster NTV said.
The armed forces chief of general staff, General Yasar Buyukanit, said after visiting the bomb site that he feared similar blasts could hit other large cities.
The PKK ended a unilateral ceasefire on May 18 and security experts had expected attacks to escalate as a result.
Senior PKK commander Murat Karayilan has blamed Turkish intelligence for recent explosions in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil and said similar blasts would occur in heart of Ankara.
The PKK has been fighting for an ethnic homeland in a campaign of bombings, kidnappings and armed attacks since 1984, and Ankara blames it for more than 30,000 deaths.
"We must work together against terror in all countries of the world. We see the results of it in America, Britain, Spain, Italy and all places," Erdogan said.
Kurdish separatists, leftist militants and hardline Islamists have all launched bomb attacks in Turkey in the past.
Tuesday's explosion comes amid heightened political tension in European Union-applicant Turkey.
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