A suicide bomber detonated in Ankara, Turkey on Sunday just as the nation’s parliament was set to return. Thankfully, injuries were scarce and there were no reported deaths aside from the terrorists involved.
A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device in the heart of the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Sunday, hours before parliament was scheduled to reopen after a three-month summer recess. A second assailant was killed in a shootout with police, the interior minister said.
Two police officers were slightly injured during the attack near an entrance to the Ministry of Interior Affairs, Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Footage from the attack has now been released, and it is astonishing. It’s one of the clearest views of a suicide attack caught on camera.
You can see that people began running before the detonation, getting out of the blast zone. I’m not sure what prompted their fleeing (perhaps gunfire), but it saved their lives. The suicide bomber is then seen running right to left up to the wall of the government complex. In a flash, the explosion happens.
Turkish authorities are investigating the matter and pledging to continue its fight on terrorism. The nation’s president, Tayyip Erdoğan, is set to deliver a major speech regarding Sweden’s inclusion into NATO. Whether that was connected to the attack or not is unknown.
This is a developing story.