A terrorist attack carried out today on the headquarters of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) in the Turkish capital Ankara left several victims after an apparent suicide bombing, according to the latest information released by Turkish authorities.
Turkish media reported that there was intense shooting at the complex, located in the district of Kahramankazan (about 50 km from the Turkish capital), in which there were several victims and hostages, as confirmed in a statement by the Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, who said that there was a powerful explosion outside the facility and that it was a ‘terrorist attack’.
‘Unfortunately there are martyrs (dead) and wounded after the attack,’ said initially Yerlikaya, who did not offer more detailed information on the number of victims and said he would expand the information in subsequent statements, asking to avoid any speculation until there was an official statement.
Yerlikaya later shared more details about the attack, indicating that it was carried out by two terrorists – a man and a woman – who were ‘neutralised’ by security forces, while a third one blew himself up in an explosion. ‘Unfortunately we have five martyrs (dead) and 22 wounded. We have 19 injured in 6 hospitals, two of the wounded are in serious condition,’ the minister said, adding that work is still ongoing to identify the perpetrators of the attack and which organisation they belonged to.
No group claims responsibility
The initial explosion at the entrance to the facility occurred at 15:26 local time; the assailants arrived in a taxi taking advantage of a shift change of security personnel, at which point one of them allegedly blew himself up while the other two took advantage of the confusion to enter the complex, starting a firefight while three more explosions were heared. So far there is no claim of responsibility for the attack, but terrorist groups such as the Kurdistan Falcons – TAK, an offshoot of the PKK – or Daesh have carried out similar attacks in the past.
Turkish media reported that workers at the site were taken to a safe area after the terrorist attack. Specialised counter-terrorism units of the Turkish security forces, as well as numerous ambulances and firefighters, were immediately dispatched to the complex, which is home to some 15,000 employees and plays a key role in Turkey’s defence and aerospace industry, producing parts for aircraft such as the Airbus A380 and the A400M military transport aircraft.
VOTE
EDITORIAL TEAM
🧿 About us
.
Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
…
📣 Your ADVERTISING on Hispanatolia
.
🤗 HELP US WITH A DONATION:
💗 Paypal
