Bomb attack outside Ankara police headquarters leaves two officers wounded

Two police officers have sustained minor injuries in a bomb attack carried out just outside the country's police headquarters in Ankara, the capital.

Two individuals orchestrated the attack, with one detonating himself and the other being shot by the police, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on social media.

"Around 09:30, two terrorists arrived in a light commercial vehicle in front of the entrance gate of our Ministry of Interior's General Directorate of Security and carried out a bomb attack,” he wrote.

“One of the terrorists detonated himself, and the other terrorist was neutralized. During the exchange of gunfire, two members of our security forces were lightly injured. I wish a speedy recovery to our heroes."

In response to the incident, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office initiated an investigation. Additionally, the Ankara Penal Judgeship of Peace imposed a media access and publication ban to manage the flow of information regarding the attack.

Following the explosion, law enforcement agencies bolstered security measures in the vicinity of the incident. The explosion, which occurred in close proximity to one of the entrances of the parliament, led to the closure of the primary Atatürk Boulevard to traffic.

Special operations police were dispatched to the scene, as well as fire brigade and medical teams.

The Grand National Assembly reconvened in the afternoon, marking its return to session after a three-month hiatus. 

Later in the day, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) claimed the attack. In a statement quoted by the Fırat News Agency (ANF), the group said the attack was a "warning" against "inhumane practices and isolation policies within all dungeons in Turkey and Kurdistan, the use of chemical weapons prohibited by universal laws of warfare against our guerrilla forces, the ongoing plunder and massacres against the nature of Kurdistan, and the fascist oppression on the Kurdish people and all democratic circles." (AS/VK)