Turkey hits PKK targets in northern Iraq and Syria after deadly attack in Ankara

ANKARA: Turkey has illegally struck Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) targets in northern Iraq and northern Syria after a deadly airstrike on an Ankara air site, the defense ministry said on Wednesday.

The perpetrators of the attack in Ankara were most likely members of the PKK, Interior Minister Ali Gerlikaya said earlier.

Five people were killed and 22 others wounded in an attack on the headquarters of the Turkish Aerospace Industry on Wednesday, the government said, and witnesses said they heard gunfire and a loud explosion at the site near Ankara.

Interior Minister Ali Gerlikaya said two attackers were killed in what he called a terrorist attack, adding that three of the wounded were in critical condition. Television stations earlier showed footage of armed attackers entering the TUSAS building.

“Two terrorists were neutralized in the terrorist attack at the TUSAS Ankara Kahramankazan site. Unfortunately, we have 5 martyrs and 22 injured in the attack,” Yerlikaya said, referring to Aerospace Industries.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, with Russia’s Vladimir Putin at a BRICS conference in the Russian city of Kazan, also called it a terrorist attack.

The causes and perpetrators of the explosion and subsequent shootings remained unclear. No group had claimed responsibility. Prosecutors have launched a state investigation Anadolu Agency was mentioned.

Some media outlets have claimed that a suicide attack took place and that there were hostages inside the building, although officials have not confirmed this.

The witnesses said Reuters that the employees inside the building were taken by the authorities to shelters and no one was allowed to leave for a few hours. They said the explosions they heard may have taken place at different exits as workers left work for the day.

Broadcasters showed images of a damaged gate and footage of a shootout in a parking lot, as well as attackers carrying rifles and backpacks as they entered the building. Ambulances and helicopters later arrived.