Friday, February 1, 2013

Turkey Embassy Attack Called "Act Of Terror"

Details are still coming in, but preliminary information indicates a suicide bomber and a Turkish security guard killed in a blast at the US embassy in Ankara.

Tension is high in Turkey after a suicide bombing at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara as officials identified the attacker as a member of a radical leftist group.

The blast killed a Turkish security guard, authorities say. The bomber died.

Istanbul police identified the bomber as Ecevit Shanli, a member of DHKP-C, a Marxist Leninist terror group.

There are conflicting accounts concerning how many were wounded.

Ankara police and health officials said two were injured, while Ankara Gov. Aladdin Yuksel said one person was hurt.

A senior U.S. official said no Americans were wounded.

The "terrorist blast" occurred at 1:13 p.m. at a checkpoint on the perimeter of the embassy, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

"We are working closely with the Turkish national police to make a full assessment of the damage and the casualties, and to begin an investigation," she said.

Unlike in Benghazi, the Turkish government is fully invested in getting to the bottom of this and assisting US investigators.  I'm thinking the DHKP-C just moved up several places on the "Going to get some drones in your errywhere" list, too.

More on this as it comes in.

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