Updated 09:46 | Published at 9:11 am
A suspected terrorist attack shakes the area around Turkey’s parliament in Ankara. According to the country’s interior minister, a suicide bomber allegedly blew himself up and another suspected perpetrator was neutralized by the police.
It is supposed to be a bomb attack against the Ministry of the Interior, says Minister of the Interior Ali Yerlikaya.
He calls what happened a “terrorist attack” and says that a suicide bomber detonated his explosive charge. Another person is said to have been rendered harmless in a shootout with the police, according to Yerlikaya.
At least two police officers are slightly injured, he adds.
The explosions took place near the parliament and the Ministry of the Interior. Police and rescue personnel have been called to the scene.
Gunfire has also been heard in the area, Turkish media reports.
The explosion occurs on the same day that the Turkish parliament opens after the summer break. The date is important for Sweden, because this summer President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson that after the opening, the parliament would quickly take up Sweden’s NATO application.
Television images show bomb squads working near a parked vehicle in the area.