The damage caused by the suicide bomb at the US embassy in Turkey. Photograph via Hıdır Tok/Twitter
The US embassy in Ankara, Turkey has been hit in a suspected suicide attack killing the bomber and a security guard, with Turkish provincial governor, Alaattin Yuksel, telling reporters that:
“There were two dead in the suicide bombing, a Turkish security guard and the bomber himself.”
The attack happened at the gate of the embassy in front of the visa section, with the explosion occurring when the bomber was going through security causing damage to the checkpoint but no damage inside the building. Embassy staff were then immediately taken to secure rooms according to local TV.
A number of militant groups from various sectors have launched attacks within Turkey in recent years including Kurdish separatists, Islamists, and leftists, but no group has yet come forward to claim this attack.
A woman was also injured in the attack and rushed to hospital, with some local unconfirmed reports claiming that she is BBC correspondent Didem Tuncay.
The US embassy is heavily protected, and is in close proximity to the embassies of other nations such as France and Germany.
