Suicide bombing at U.S. Embassy in Turkey kills 2

Two police officers arrive at Gate 2 of the US embassy just minutes after a suicide bomber has detonated an explosive device at the entrance of the U.S. Embassy in the Turkish capital, Ankara, Turkey, on Friday, Feb. 1, 2013.
Two police officers arrive at Gate 2 of the US embassy just minutes after a suicide bomber has detonated an explosive device at the entrance of the U.S. Embassy in the Turkish capital, Ankara, Turkey, on Friday, Feb. 1, 2013.

— A suspected suicide bomber detonated an explosive Friday in front of the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, killing himself and a guard at the entrance gate, officials said.

U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardione told reporters that a Turkish citizen was also wounded in the 1:15 p.m. blast in the Turkish capital.

White House press secretary Jay Carney is calling the attack "an act of terror."

While both Kurdish rebels and Islamic militants are active in Turkey, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said an outlawed Turkish Marxist group is responsible for the attack.

The bomb appeared to have exploded inside the security checkpoint at the side entrance to the embassy, but did not damage the inside of the embassy itself.

TV footage showed the embassy door blown off its hinges. The windows of nearby businesses were also shattered by the power of the blast, and debris littered the ground and across the road.

Police swarmed the area and immediately cordoned it off and several ambulances were dispatched.

An AP journalist saw one woman who appeared to be seriously injured being carried into an ambulance but a hospital official said she was “not in critical condition.” On its website, the Hurriyet newspaper identified the woman as Didem Tuncay, a television journalist who it said was at the embassy to get a U.S. visa.

Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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