(Newswire.net — March 15, 2016) —A large explosion took place in Ankara on Sunday afternoon. The tragedy was caused by a bomb planted under a car.
Turkey’s Health Minister, Mehmet Muezzinoglu, said that at least 37 people have been killed, and 125 have been hospitalised, with 19 of them in critical condition.
This attack, which occurred in the center of Ankara, just a few hundred meters from the Turkish Ministry of Justice and Internal Affairs building, is the second attack to take place in the Turkish capital in less than a month.
According to the first news, it was the parked car that had exploded, but the police later announced that the explosion occurred after the collision of cars and a bus with about 20 people onboard.
Turkish Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, has said that 11 people have been detained in possible connection to the attack.
Turkish police have evidence that one of the attackers was a female, a member of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), who had joined the militant group in 2013.
Evidence suggests she was born in 1992, in the eastern city of Kars, security officials said on Monday.
The PKK has previously attacked Turkish security forces but claimed that they do not attack civilians.
If the PKK takes responsibility for the attack in Ankara on Sunday, it will be a big change in the organization’s tactics.
Although no one has claimed responsibility so far, the preliminary results of the investigation indicate that the PKK or an extremist group associated with them is responsible for the attack.
The explosives, which were placed under a car, were detonated on Sunday at 6:35pm. Eyewitnesses said that they heard shooting after the explosion.
After the attack, Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said that the fight against terrorism will end successfully and terrorism will be brought to its knees.
He added that the attacks will not weaken their determination to fight against terrorism and Turkey will never derogate from the right to defend itself and its citizens.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sent a message to the Turkish people to not worry and to be together, as national unity is important in these moments.