Car Bomb in Turkey’s Capital Kills at Least 34, Wounds 125

A suicide car bomb went off near bus stops in the heart of Turkey’s capital on Sunday, killing at least 34 people and wounding around 125 others, officials said. Two of the dead are believed to be the terrorists.

A senior government official told The Associated Press that police suspect that Kurdish terrorists carried out the attack, which occurred on Ankara’s main boulevard, close to ministries.

At least one of the bombers was a woman, he said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity on the grounds that the investigation was ongoing.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to bring “terrorism to its knees” and said Turkey would use its right to self-defense to prevent future attacks.

“Our people should not worry, the struggle against terrorism will for certain end in success and terrorism will be brought to its knees,” Erdogan said.

Health Minister Mehmet Müezzinoğlu said 19 of the wounded were in serious condition. He said that 30 of the fatalities died at the scene, while the other four perished in hospitals.

Interior Minister Efkan Ala said the attack, which came as Turkey prepared to launch large-scale military operations against Kurdish terrorists in two towns, wouldn’t deter the country from its fight against terrorism. He confirmed the blast as a car bomb that targeted civilians at bus stops on Ataturk Bulvari close to Kizilay square.

Ala said authorities had obtained evidence pointing to the group behind the attack, but said an announcement would be made after the investigation is completed, most probably on Monday.

The private NTV news channel said several vehicles then caught fire following the blast which also shattered the windows of shops that line the boulevard and the square.

Dogan Asik, 28, said he was on a packed bus when the explosion occurred.

“There were about 40 people,” said Asik, who sustained injuries on his face and arm. “It (the bus) slowed down. A car went by us, and ‘boom!’ it exploded.”

Police sealed off the area and pushed onlookers and journalists back, warning there could be a second bomb. Forensic teams were examining the scene.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, although Kurdish terrorists and the Islamic t State terrorist group have carried out bombings in the city recently. A far-left terrorist group is also active in Turkey.

The bombing is the third in the city in five months and comes as Turkey is faced with an array of issues, including renewed fighting with the Kurdish rebels, threats from the Islamic State terrorist group and a Syrian refugee crisis.

It occurred just three weeks after a suicide car bombing in the capital targeted buses carrying military personnel, killing 29 people. A Kurdish terrorist group which is an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdish rebel group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, claimed responsibility for the Feb. 17 attack. The government, however, said that attack was carried out by a Syrian Kurdish terrorist group in concert with the PKK, which has waged a 30-year insurgency.

Sunday’s attack also came two days after the U.S. Embassy issued a security warning about a potential plot to attack Turkish government buildings and housing in one Ankara neighborhood, and asked its citizens to avoid those areas.

As with the previous bombings, Turkish authorities quickly imposed a ban Sunday preventing media organizations from broadcasting or publishing graphic images of the blast or from the scene.

The country’s pro-Kurdish party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party, condemned the attack, and said it shares “the huge pain felt along with our citizens.” The statement was significant because the party is frequently accused of being the political arm of the PKK – an accusation it denies – and of not speaking out against PKK violence.

Hundreds of people have been killed in Turkey in renewed fighting following the collapse of the peace process between the government and the PKK in July. Authorities on Sunday had declared curfews in two towns in the mainly Kurdish southeast region in anticipation of large-scale military operations against PKK-linked terrorists.

Turkey also has been struck by several bombings in the last year that were blamed on IS as the government joined efforts led by the U.S. to fight the terrorist group in Syria. The deadliest came in October when a peace rally outside Ankara’s main train station killed 102 people.