Ankara bomb blasts kill 86 at peace rally; 186 wounded

ANKARA, Turkey — Two bomb explosions targeted a peace rally Saturday by leftist and Kurdish activists in the Turkish capital of Ankara, killing 86 people and wounding 186, the country's health minister said.

The explosions occurred seconds apart outside Ankara's main train station as hundreds were gathering for the rally, organized by Turkey's public sector workers' union and other civic society groups. The rally was to call for increased democracy and an end to the renewed violence between Kurdish rebels and Turkish security forces.

Authorities were investigating whether the attacks — which struck 50 yards apart — were suicide bombings. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the deadliest attacks in Turkey in years.

The attacks came at a tense time for Turkey, a NATO member that borders war-torn Syria, hosts more refugees than any other nation in the world and is holding a general election on Nov. 1.

Authorities had been on alert after Turkey agreed to take a more active role in the U.S.-led battle against the Islamic State group. Turkey opened up its bases to U.S. aircraft to launch air raids on the extremist group in Syria and carried out a limited number of strikes on the group itself. Russia has also entered the fray on behalf of the Syrian government recently, bombing sites in Syria and reportedly violating Turkish airspace a few times in the past week.

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