Qatar condemns blast as 28 die in Ankara

Date

2/17/2016 9:52:50 PM

(MENAFN- The Peninsula)

Doha: Qatar has expressed strong condemnation of the criminal explosion in the Turkish capital Ankara that killed and injured a number of people yesterday.

The Foreign Ministry expressed Qatar’s solidarity with the brotherly Turkey and support to all measures it takes to face such criminal acts which aim to shake its security and stability. In a statement the ministry renewed its firm position rejecting violence and terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

The statement expressed Qatar government and people’s condolences to the victims’ families the Turkish government and people and wished the injured a speedy recovery.

At least 28 people were killed and 10 wounded in a car bomb targeting the Turkish military in the capital Ankara the city’s governor said.

The attack was aimed at a convoy of military service vehicles Ankara Governor Mehmet Kiliclar was quoted as saying by CNN-Turk and NTV channels.

Plumes of smoke were seen rising over an area and the blast was heard all over the city sending residents to their balconies in panic. Ambulances and fire engines were sent to the scene near the Turkish military headquarters and parliament. NTV said the explosion happened near a residential block for top military staff. Omer Celik spokesman for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) condemned the attack.

Police set up a security cordon around the area. There was no immediate indication about who carried out the attack but the Islamic State (IS) group has been blamed for bombings in the country since the middle of last year.

Ankara was on alert after 103 people were killed on October 10 when two suicide bombers blew themselves up amid peace activists the bloodiest attack in the country’s modern history.

On January 16 11 German tourists were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up in the tourist heart of Istanbul. Those attacks were blamed on IS jihadists as were two bombings in the Kurdish-dominated southeast earlier this year. Authorities have in recent weeks detained suspected IS members reportedly planning attacks in Istanbul and Ankara.

Turkey is also waging an all-out assault on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which has staged deadly attacks against security forces in the southeast.QNA & AFP

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