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Subscribe to RSSA suicide bomber blew himself up at an entrance to the U.S. Embassy compound in Ankara, Turkey, on Friday. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
A suicide bomber blew himself up at an entrance to the U.S. Embassy compound in Ankara, Turkey, on Friday, officials said.
U.S. State Department and Turkish interior ministry officials said the bomber and a Turkish guard were killed in the attack, which took place about 1:15 p.m. local time (6:15 a.m. ET).
"Clearly, it’s a terrorist attack," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a media briefing, adding that the U.S. condemns the hit in strong terms.
The bomber, who was wearing a suicide vest, made it to the first X-ray machine in a screening area leading to the visa section, police sources said, and then detonated the device.
The Turkish security guard standing nearby was killed, but two guards on the other side of the checkpoint, behind bulletproof glass, survived. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, sources had said three people were thought to have been killed.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said the bomber was a member of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front, or DHKPC, a far-left group designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.
That group, started in the late 1970s, "has periodically targeted both Turkish officials and been virulently anti-U.S. and anti-NATO during the Gulf War and continuing to today," Michael Leiter, former director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, said in an interview with NBC News.
"During the past several months Turkish officials have targeted the DHKPC and it is possible that this was in retaliation for those police raids," he said, adding that the group's reach was believed to be limited to Turkey and the immediate region.
There was, however, no claim of responsibility.
Nuland said a Turkish citizen was hurt and is in "serious condition." Reuters reported this victim was Didem Tuncay, a journalist on her way in to the embassy to meet U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardone. Several U.S. and Turkish staff members were hit by flying debris and treated at the scene.
"We're very sad of course that we lost one of our Turkish guards at the gate," Ricciardone said, according to Reuters, thanking Turkish authorities for their response.
Turkish television footage taken shortly after the attack showed smoke rising from the area and a heavily damaged door that led to a side street.
A suicide bomber blew himself up at an entrance to the embassy compound in Ankara.
Turkish media reports identified the bomber as Ecevit Sanli. Reuters said Sanli was previously involved in attacks on a police station and a military staff college in Istanbul in 1997.
Nuland said the attack happened on an external perimeter access site whose level of security protection ensured that the strike wasn't worse.
The White House said Friday it was not yet clear who was responsible for the bombing.
"The attack itself was clearly an act of terror," Jay Carney, White House spokesman, said in a briefing with reporters.
The State Department said the U.S. will cooperate with the Turkish side on the investigation into the attack.
Erdogan, who was attending a ceremony in Istanbul when the blast happened, said the attack "shows that we need to fight together everywhere in the world against these terrorist elements."
In an emergency message Friday, the State Department said Americans were "advised to not visit the Consulates in Istanbul, Adana or the Embassy in Ankara until further notice."
"The Department of State advises U.S. citizens traveling or residing in Turkey to be alert to the potential for violence, to avoid those areas where disturbances have occurred, and to avoid demonstrations and large gatherings," the message said.
In Berlin on Friday, Vice President Joe Biden said that he appreciated an "expression of sympathy" over the attack from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, saying it reinforced the "very close counterterrorism cooperation that exists between Germany and the United States."
On Sept. 11 last year, U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, prompting concern about security for diplomats.
On Jan. 23, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that she took responsibility for not adequately protecting U.S. personnel in Benghazi. Her voice choked with emotion as she remembered the return of "flag-draped caskets" and putting her arms around relatives of those who died.
Nuland said on Friday that after Benghazi, every U.S. post in the world reviewed its security. She added that the embassy in Ankara is one of the posts due for a complete compound overhaul. The building housing the embassy was built in the 1950s and needs a full upgrade, Nuland said.
Homegrown Islamic militants tied to al-Qaida have carried out suicide bombings in Istanbul, killing 58, in 2003. The targets were the British consulate, a British bank and two synagogues.
In 2008, an attack blamed on al-Qaida-affiliated militants outside the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul left three assailants and three policemen dead.
In the November 2003 attack on the British consulate, a suspected Islamic militant rammed an explosive-laden pickup truck into the main gate, killing British Consul-General, Roger Short, and his assistant, Lisa Hallworth.
The State Department says on its website that 15 people who claimed they were associated with al-Qaida were arrested in July 2011 for gathering explosive materials in preparation for an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Ankara.
Mehmet Ali Ozcan / EPA
Turkish police secure the area after an explosion at an entrance to the U.S. Embassy compound in Ankara Friday.
It added that the July plot and other incidents "show a willingness on the part of some terrorist groups to attack identifiably Western targets. The possibility of terrorist attacks, from both transnational and indigenous groups, remains high."
The State Department says the PKK Kurdish rebel group is the "most active terrorist organization in Turkey." It said the PKK had historically targeted Turkish government and military interests, but had recently "threatened increased violent activity in Turkey’s urban areas, and there is credible information suggesting that it intends to continue targeting tourist areas as well."
Earlier this month, about 400 U.S. personnel arrived at Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base to support the deployment of a NATO Patriot missile battery to help defend the country from possible incursions by Syria’s forces during that country’s ongoing civil war.
Reuters, The Associated Press and NBC News Staff Writers Kari Huus, Alastair Jamieson and Becky Bratu contributed to this report.
Related:
From April 2011: US ally Turkey flirts with Mideast's 'bad boys'
After decades of oppression, Kurds get taste of freedom as Assad's troops flee
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Boner is already demanding an investigation.
Our embassies have been attacked on and off for all of my 65 years. It is always tragic but never a new idea. Now that every loonie can type their fantasies onto these kind of comment boards these events are used to promote whatever political score a loonie wants to make.
I doubt the Republicans will free up the money Secretary Clinton requested for enhanced security.
Hey, john, didn't you hear? The vote against that funding bill was 147 republicans and 149 democrats, so more democrats voted for the lower funding level than republicans, and as democrats are currently in the minority in the House, this means that a greater percentage of the democrats voted to cut funding.
The drums of war beat. The whole world is in an arms race, american forces are being deployed world wide. but americans have no clue they are to messed up on pills and bud light, brain washed by fox cnn honey boo boo and nfl hollywood. a country that should be leading the way is throwing themselfs back in the stone age with black sites and big bank/pharma. and if you even talk about these things in front of an american they flip out. schreeming its for freedom we are saving the world here you terrorist. the population has become so brainwashed it makes me sad and scared, i hear people say very seriousily why dont we just nuke all the musilims. or we should just nuke north korea. how blind how ignorent how brain washed can a mass population be. the people of america have been dumbed down drasticly to control the population via nancy grace and rush . im surrounded by complete morons who say shi* like its what god wants or its gods will or so you can live in a free country... free? wtf are these fools talking about ? to top it off they think now is a good time to give up guns lol wow. sure you dont want to start a few more wars first? even the people in charge are dumb ask julian assange he will tell you all about it
...or reserve a seat on nasa rocket to nearest star system piloted by Obamas Arab Astronaut initiative!
I think if you blow yourself up and only manage to kill three other people you should get maybe twelve virgins at the most. I mean really, put some effort into it if you want the big prize.
The haters are out in full force already. You just love to sit back and criticize, find some blame, fabricate a scandal..DONT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT ANY LOSS OF LIFE. Waste of good oxygen.
gofins, agree with you. here they come, straight to the NBC site, call it MSNBC which it ain't, then troll like going for catfish. However, since the fishing is bad, all they can make is inane comments. Wish they'd go back to Fools News. Their comments are welcomed with open hands, hearts and minds there.
And I still think Reynolds is gonna run out of foil some time real soon.
Time to make suicide bombers illegal, that should stop this sort of thing.
Isn't it sad that the old farts that want to dominate the world are able to brainwash young people into doing stupid things like this while they sit back all smug and happy. The religeon of peace my as*; the perverted leadership has hi-jacked this relegion and made it even more deadly than it ever was. During WWII some Muslims even helped to save Jews. Now the old farts just want to kill everyone. If you get 71 virgins when you go to heaven why aren't the old farts first in line?
The Arab world by and large sided wih the Nazi's.
But sure some Arabs upon pain of death have helped their brothers in time of need.
Only to get hung in Iran, shot in Pakistan...
The religeon of peace my as*; the perverted leadership has hi-jacked this relegion and made it even more deadly than it ever was
Why has every Muslim terrorist misunderstood his religion in exactly the same way?
What if the 71 virgins are all men Robert.
I'm sure it will conveniently be a Syrian suicide bomber so we can "publicly" invade and avenge the death of 2+- people by killing thousands upon thousands. The itch to find a reason/way/justification to go to war with Syria is so intense on both sides of the aisle since war = jobs for many, many Americans. With the recent report that 20,000 or so troops will be "laid off" or whatever terminology the military industrial complex uses, many of those 20,000 will not have jobs...oh but wait, aren't companies "encouraged" to hire war vets/military vets before they hire common folk or civilians these days? Anyway, these people need work and they need another war to do it so it is only a matter of time...they may as well do something they are good at and leave the mundane work for us civilians. And before people feel a need - every male in my family uncles, cousins, father, grandfathers, great grandfathers all served in the military because that is what our family did. They saw combat...and those that are still living are off their rocks now.
The Republicans lost all the jobs, YEARS AGO!
UGLY comments here!
How dare you say that!!
The fact is Dems that obama and clinton KNEW they were lying, so did Rice for that matter - it is not that the facts changed, its that they lied from the beginning about what happened and what they knew - a man is still in jail for practicing his first ammendment rights, oh yeah, guess it is parole violation (joke) - isn't this the same reason you all hate W so much, because he lied, because he covered things up???? And Nixon? Don't you hate him for the same reason? Yet Billy Bob, Hillary, and Obama all get a pass...I used to think you all were just dumb and gullible, now I think you just don't give a darn - end justifies the means with you - I have no respect for you lap dogs at all - you would sell your soul(if you think you have one) for the idea of a safety blanket that doesn't even exsist - in the end the joke is on you - ha ha - unfortunately the rest of us have to pay the price.
Why don't all you clowns with your know it all comments just wait until there are details. Until then just STFU!
You mean STFU... like Susan Rice did when she went on the talk shows and when Hillary apologized and condemned the video to the Muslim world. They knew the details the day of the attack in Benghazi and still lied about the actually details!
Let's hear it for the religion of pieces...
How reminiscent of the Clinton administration, where American Weakness resulted in Atack after Attack on US sites abroad and NOTHING was done about it. First Attack on World Trade Center, led to second with NO response. Hussein did NOTHING about Benghazi. Now Turkey. There is going to be a Next and it Will be Bigger. Weakness breeds Contempt and NO Respect. In Hussein, the US has a Pathetically Weak, Appeasing Buffoon as president. Our Enemies are once again becoming Emboldened. How can you blame them, when this POS does NOTHING about them, other than to blow smoke up their Suicide Loving _sses!
Love watching all off the foreign affairs experts here mentally masturbating. Way to stand with your country "patriots". Slimy patriots.
ouch
If we could get some of that self combustion action out of our local muslims I wonder if they would be banned or just high capacity bomb vest.
Can't be, obama assured us that terrorists were on the run. This sess pool is getting ready to explode. Obama is totally clueless. Who the hell running this country anyway?
Let the brotherhood go bomb them with our F-16's then they can use a ground assault with our tanks. Another good move radical obama!
Sad to say we lost more American lives...but it's ok...Obama will blame Bush again and he will be believed... As more American emabassies are bombed...I picture a scene in movie Animal House where the officer is standing in front of a crowd gone wild saying "all is fine"...that's our POTUS in that scene...screaming "all is fine"..although his outcome will be different...he wil be praised that he could find "another" video just in case...How many videos need to be made now? I bet a lot unfortunately...
prolly prepped a fall guy already
I sure hope those four people at the State Dept. who had to change desk jobs after Benghazi don't have to move again. At some point it could affect their self esteem.
{sarcastic response to the GOP haters above who just avoid facts and spread lies}
Obama admin immediate response to the incident at the US Embassy in Turkey (done through cronies).
It wasn't a terrorist attack, it was Bush's fault. Uh,,, it was those darn republicans fault. Hmmm,,, it was because Aladdin played sometime in the past 5 years, and it was a spontaneous protest and one of the people accidently exploded. Yeah, that's it...
A GOOD guy, with a bomb, could have stopped this tragedy!
As Wayneboy says, we should enforce the laws we do have, that'll stop em.
Probably the Coke commercial.
Let the Obama bashing begin
Quick Republicans, blame Hillary Clinton!
Next up, soldiers die in Afghanistan, blame Obama!
GOP just like looking for any reason to blame anything on Obama and his administration.
FactsoftheMatter:
Of course they will. Don't let it get to you. Obama has 4 more years. Ya know what's really funny? They keep making hypocrites of themselves over and over. You can't take people like this seriously. When their IQ is the same as their shoe size, you really shouldn't take them seriously.
They're still pissed off because Romney lost. Which means they lost. Which means they were wrong. And Man0man, have they been wrong about a lot. Especially this bozo who calls herself left is fascist.
They all seem ( the angry ones) to forget the previous admin. And the damage that admin wrought. Oh, that's right. IOKIYAR. classic example. Be nice to them. They can't help it. All that hate they carry around all day long has rotted their brains. Coupled with a very low IQ, and that is the end result.
Just ignore them. We have 4 more years. Plenty of time to watch their heads explode. ;)
so... playing the bush card
911 was bushes fault also. yep.
Blame Hillary? Of course not. She is a respected expert on Turkey, particularly when it comes to stuffings. No one can do a bird like that woman.
Iran and Syria...I put my money on it!
Quick, Mit Romney's sons join the Marines we need help in guarding embassies.
Not gonna happen.
Quick, Hannity's son join up..hahaha only for the working class Republicans they know thei place as lap dogs.