Terror attack in Turkey: Assailants set off explosives, open fire in capital Ankara, leaving four dead, 14 wounded

Police officers secure part of a main road in Kahramankazan,40 kilometers north of Ankara, in the vicinity of the Turkish Aerospace Industries building, after a huge explosion outside the headquarters left four people dead. Pic/AFP

Assailants set off explosives and opened fire in a terror attack in Turkey on Wednesday, October 23, on the premises of the state-run aerospace and defence company TUSAS, killing four people, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

At least two of the attackers died, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said.

"We have four martyrs and 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, reported news agency AP.

Selim Cirpanoglu, the mayor of the district of Kahramankazan, told AP that the attack on the company in the outskirts of the capital, Ankara, had abated but could not provide more details.

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. The assailants, who were carrying assault weapons, then detonated an explosive device next to the taxi, causing panic and allowing them to enter the complex, AP reported.

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 designs, manufactures and assembles both civilian and military aircrafts, unmanned aerial vehicles and other defense industry and space systems. The UAVs have been instrumental in Turkiye gaining an upper hand in its fight against Kurdish militants in Turkiye and across the border in Iraq.

Vice-President Cevdet Yilmaz said the target of the attack was Turkiye's "success in the defence industry". "It should be known that these attacks will not be able to deter the heroic employees of defence industry,"

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