Assailants set off explosives and opened fire in an attack Wednesday on the premises of the Turkish state-run aerospace and defence company TUSAS, killing four people and wounding several, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
Turkish media say assailants arrived by taxi before setting off explosive device
The Associated Press
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Assailants set off explosives and opened fire in an attack Wednesday on the premises of the Turkish state-run aerospace and defence company TUSAS, killing four people and wounding several, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. At least two of the attackers died, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said.
“We have four martyrs. We have 14 wounded. I condemn this heinous terrorist attack and wish mercy on our martyrs,” Erdogan said during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the sidelines of a BRICS meeting in Kazan, Russia.
Putin offered him condolences over the attack.
Selim Çırpanoğlu, mayor of the district of Kahramankazan, told The Associated Press the attack on the company in the outskirts of the capital, Ankara, had abated, but could not provide more details.
WATCH | Explosion captured on camera in Ankara parking lot:
Explosion captured on camera in Ankara parking lot
An excerpt of a video from IHA, a Turkey-based broadcaster, shows an explosion in a parking lot in Ankara, reported to be the site of aerospace and defence company TUSAS.
It was not clear who may be behind it. Kurdish militants, the Islamic State group and leftist extremists have carried out attacks in the country in the past.
Security camera images from the attack, aired on television, showed a man in plainclothes carrying a backpack and holding an assault rifle.
Turkish media said three assailants, including a woman, arrived at an entry to the complex inside a taxi. Carrying assault weapons, they then detonated an explosive device next to the taxi, causing panic and allowing them to enter the complex.
Multiple gunshots were heard after Turkish security forces entered the site, the DHA news agency and other media reported. Helicopters were seen flying above the premises.
TUSAS (Turkish Aerospace Industries) designs, manufactures and assembles both civilian and military aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and other defence industry and space systems. The UAVs have been instrumental in Turkey gaining an upper hand in its fight against Kurdish militants in Turkey and across the border in Iraq.
Vice-President Cevdet Yılmaz said on X the target of the attack was Turkey’s “success in the defence industry.”
“It should be known that these attacks will not be able to deter the heroic employees of our defence industry.”