REPORT: Bomber in U.S. Embassy attack in Turkey suspected leftist

A suicide bomber killed a Turkish security guard at the U.S. embassy in Ankara on Friday, blowing the door off a side entrance and sending smoke and debris flying into the street.
                                          
Ankara Governor Alaaddin Yuksel said the attacker was inside U.S. property when the explosives were detonated. The blast sent masonry spewing out of the wall of the side entrance, but there did not appear to be any more significant structural damage.                                

The bomber was also killed.                            


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In this context, the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said that the attack was a suicide bombing.                        

In comments broadcast live by Turkish television, Erdogan called for a global effort to combat "terrorist elements".                        

As for the Turkish Interior Minister Muammer Guler told reporters that the attacker was believed to have been a Turkish citizen                 

Guler said a woman was badly wounded in the attack and that two security guards were receiving out-patient care at a hospital.                          

For his part the U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardone emerged through the main gate of the building, which is surrounded by high walls, shortly after the explosion to address reporters, flanked by a security detail as a Turkish police helicopter hovered overhead.                                                  

"We are very sad of course that we lost one of our Turkish guards at the gate," Ricciardone he said, thanking the Turkish authorities for a prompt response.              

The U.S. State Department said it is working with Turkish officials to investigate the deadly explosion.          

"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," department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said in a statement.                               

Nuland called the explosion at the embassy compound's check point at 1:13 p.m. Ankara time "a terrorist blast." A suicide bomber killed a Turkish security guard, blowing the door off a side entrance and sending smoke and debris flying into the street.                

As for the US consulate in Istanbul, it warned its citizens against visiting its missions in Turkey until further notice.                  

"The Department of State advises U.S. citizens traveling or residing in Turkey to be alert to the potential for violence, to avoid those areas where disturbances have occurred and to avoid demonstrations and large gatherings," the consulate statement added.          

This as a Reuters witness saw one wounded person being lifted into an ambulance as police armed with assault rifles cordoned off the area.                                   

"It was a huge explosion. I was sitting in my shop when it happened. I saw what looked like a body part on the ground," said travel agent Kamiyar Barnos whose shop window was shattered around 100 meters away from the blast.                 


POLICE REPORT:

Turkish police suspect the suicide bomber who attacked the U.S. Embassy, killing himself and a security guard, belonged to a far-left militant group, state broadcaster TRT said. 
                           
The bomber, about 30-years-old, used plastic explosives in the attack. He is believed to have spent time in prison on terrorism-related charges and was a member of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), TRT said.                   

The DHKP-C is a Marxist-Leninist group that has claimed responsibility for suicide bombings against police stations in recent years. There have been no claims of responsibility for Friday's attack.


REUTERS