2 killed in bomb attack in southern Turkey

Istanbul / AFP

Two people were killed and 21 wounded on Thursday when a car bomb exploded outside a local government building in the southern Turkish city of Adana, the latest attack to rock Turkey this year.
The bomb exploded in the car park of the governor’s office for the Adana region, the governorate said in a statement.The explosion sparked a fire, with a cloud of dark smoke spewing into the sky. The force of the blast caused damage to the governorate itself, state-run Anadolu news agency said, describing the blast as a “terror attack”.
The attack is believed to have been carried out by a woman, Adana governor Mahmut Demirtas was quoted as saying by Anadolu, without providing further details of the nature of the blast. He said two people were killed and 16 wounded. The Dogan news agency later said that the number wounded had risen to 21. Five were reported to be in serious condition.
As has been the case with previous attacks, the Turkish authorities immediately slapped a broadcast ban on footage from the scene.
“This accursed terror continues to target our people,” Turkey’s EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik, a ruling party MP from Adana, wrote on Twitter.
“We will fight against terror until the very end in the name of humanity,” he added. With a population of almost two million, Adana is one of Turkey’s largest cities, lying around 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the Syrian border.
The US consulate in the city had in September warned its citizens of a potential threat targeting US-branded hotels there. “We strongly condemn the outrageous terrorist attack in Adana,” the US embassy in Ankara said on Twitter. “We mourn those lost, wish the wounded a speedy recovery and stand with Turkey against terror,” it added.
Incirlik air base, located just outside Adana, is used by American and coalition forces as a hub for air raids against IS extremists in neighbouring Syria.
The attack came on the same day that three Turkish soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in an air strike in northern Syria that Turkish officials blamed on the Syrian regime.
Turkey has experienced a bloody year of militant attacks in its two biggest cities that have left dozens dead and put the country on high alert.
Kurdish militants have twice struck in Ankara, while suspected IS suicide bombers have hit Istanbul on three occasions.