![[UPDATE] Ankara Terror Attack: Turkey Strikes Suspected Kurdish Militant Targets in Iraq After Suicide Bombing](https://d.hngn.com/en/full/281847/update-ankara-terror-attack-turkey-strikes-suspected-kurdish-militant-targets-iraq-after.jpg?w=830&f=7392ddd45d219727a1025d39d6a5ae3a)
The Turkish Defense Ministry confirmed that warplanes carried out airstrikes on suspected Kurdish militant targets located in northern Iraq on Sunday after a suicide bombing that targeted a government building in Ankara, the nation's capital.
Officials said roughly 20 Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) targets were "destroyed" in the latest aerial raids. The targets include caves, shelters, and depots. The ministry added that many PKK operatives were "neutralized" in the strikes.
Airstrikes on Suspected Kurdish Militant Targets
The attacks come after a suicide bomber on Sunday detonated an explosive device near an entrance of the Interior Ministry. The assault left two police officers injured before a second assailant was killed during a shootout with law enforcement personnel.
The PKK, which maintains bases in northern Iraq, claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings. Turkey's Interior Ministry also identified one of the attackers as a member of the outlawed group, adding that efforts were underway to identify the second assailant, as per ABC News.
The horrific attacks happened only a few hours before Turkey's Parliament reopened after having a three-month-long summer recess with an address by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The two attackers arrived at the scene inside a light commercial vehicle they took from a veterinarian in the central province of Kayseri.
Reports noted that the suspects shot the victim in the head and threw his body into a ditch by the side of the road. The attackers then allegedly drove the car to Ankara for roughly 300 kilometers before conducting the bombing.
In a statement, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said that Turkey's heroic police officers could resist the terrorists as soon as they exited the vehicle. He noted that one of the attackers blew himself up while his accomplice was shot in the head before he could detonate his explosives.
During his speech, Erdogan also addressed the issue, saying that the suicide bombing was the "last flutters of terrorism." He added that the ones who threaten the peace and security of citizens have not achieved their goals and said they never will, according to The Guardian.
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Suicide Bombing in Ankara
The militant group that claimed responsibility for the attack said that the timing of the bombing was chosen to avoid larger casualty numbers and that it took place exactly as planned without any obstacles.
The Turkish president also suggested potential changes to Turkey's Constitution in the coming parliamentary term. It comes after an election earlier this year where his opponents warned against an increasing concentration of power around the presidency.
Investigators responsible for analyzing the recent suicide bombing found four different types of guns, three hand grenades, one rocket launcher, and C-4 explosives at the scene. Officials noted that a PKK unit known as the "Brigade of Immortals" deliberated targeted the opening of parliament and the ministry building.
The PKK's People's Defense Center Headquarters also released a statement saying that its attack was justified due to what it called the "disregard of human rights, the inhuman practice, and policy of isolation in Turkish and Kurdish jails, the use of chemical weapons against KPP guerilla forces, ecocide in Kurdistan, and the oppression of the Kurdish people," said CNN.
