NEW DELHI: Turkey’s interior minister on Wednesday said that several people were left “dead and injured” after a strong explosion outside the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) headquarters near Ankara.
“A terrorist attack was carried out against the Turkish Aerospace Industries. Unfortunately, we have martyrs and injured people,” Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X.
Local media initially showed footage of massive smoke plumes and fire burning at the location in Kahramankazan, a small town approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Ankara.
News agency AFP citing Haberturk TV said that there was an ongoing “hostage situation” without providing additional details, while NTV, a private television network, mentioned gunshots following the explosion, which occurred around 4:00 pm (1300 GMT).
No immediate claim of responsibility for the attack has been made.
The explosion happened concurrently with a major trade fair for the defense and aerospace industries taking place in Istanbul, which Ukraine’s top diplomat visited earlier this week.