Bomber attacks US embassy in Turkey

Attacker blows himself up, killing security guard

A suicide bomber from a far-left group killed a Turkish security guard at the US embassy in Ankara on Friday, blowing the door off a side entrance and sending smoke and debris flying into the street.

The attacker blew himself up inside US property, Ankara Governor Alaaddin Yuksel said. The blast sent masonry spewing out of the wall and could be heard a mile away.

Interior Minister Muammer Guler said the bomber was a member of a far-left group. The US State Department said it was working with Turkish police to investigate what it described as “a terrorist blast”.

Islamist radicals, far-left groups, far-right groups and Kurdish separatist militants have all carried out attacks in Turkey in the past. There was no claim of responsibility.

“The suicide bomber was ripped apart and one or two citizens from the special security team passed away,” said Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who was attending a ceremony in Istanbul.

“This event shows that we need to fight together everywhere in the world against these terrorist elements,” he said. Far-left groups in Turkey oppose what they see as US influence over Turkish foreign policy.

Turkey is a key US ally in the Middle East with common interests ranging from energy security to counter-terrorism, and has been one of the leading advocates of foreign intervention to end the conflict in neighbouring Syria.