Turkey: Two suicide bombers blow themselves up near Ankara after police foil terror plot

Two car bombs reportedly went off in Turkey after a police operation managed to prevent a terror attack on Saturday (8 October). The suspected terrorists reportedly blew themselves up when asked to surrender.

According to media reports, governor of capital Ankara, Ercan Topaca, said that the Turkish police were tipped off about the attack on Friday (7 October). He confirmed there were at least two suspects in the southern outskirts of the city, where they were hiding inside a hut at a horse farm. The police have identified them and one of them is reported to be a female, he said.

RT News reported that police have launched a search operation for a third suspect who is believed to have escaped.

The assailants were allegedly planning a car bomb attack. Although no casualties have been reported so far, the governor said it is still unclear where the suspected terrorists planned to carry out the attacks. He added that the attackers were trying to camouflage themselves by having Turkish flags hung on their cars. He believed the cars were purchased in the last two days.

"Police called on them to surrender. They did not respond in a positive way. They blew themselves up before we could intervene," Associated Press quoted Topaca as saying.

It is also unclear if the suspects were lone wolves or members of a terror organisation, but Topaca reportedly does not rule out the involvement of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the foiled terror bid.

"According to information we have received, it is highly likely that [the man] is linked to the PKK. The way the incident was carried out and planned points at the PKK," the governor said.

During the search operation, the Turkish police reportedly discovered nearly 200kg of ammonium nitrate used for explosives from the attack scene.

Turkey has come under a series of attacks in recent months. Officials have accused the Islamic State (Isis) or the PKK, which Turkey sees as a terror group, of carrying out these attacks.

In a suicide attack near a police station in Istanbul on Thursday (6 October), 10 people were reportedly injured when a motorbike bomb exploded. The incident took place near the city's Ataturk International Airport. The police detained the assailant on Friday but are yet to ascertain his motives.

In another bomb blast at a wedding party in August, 51 people were killed in the eastern Turkish city of Gaziantep, around 40 miles from the Syrian border. The attack was reported to have been carried out by a child suicide bomber.