A Turkish guard protecting the American embassy in Ankara was killed Friday by a suicide bomber who detonated his explosives near a security checkpoint after making his way onto U.S. property at the diplomatic outpost. At least one other Turkish citizen was also injured by the blast, but early reports suggest that casualties were kept to a minimum. The Associated Press set the scene:
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.
The embassy is heavily fortified and located near several other embassies, including those of Germany and France. No group has yet taken credit for the bombing, although the two most likely suspects appear to be either the Kurdistan Workers Party, a terrorist group who is fighting for autonomy in the Kurdish-dominated southeast portion of Turkey; or homegrown Islamic militants tied to al-Qaida.
