Suicide bomber detonates device in front of Turkey's Interior Ministry building

A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device in front of Turkey's Interior Ministry building in the capital, Ankara, on Sunday, hours before a new parliamentary session was set to begin, officials said.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said one bomber detonated himself, and a second would-be attacker was "neutralized" and died in a shootout with police. Two police officers sustained minor injuries that were not life-threatening, Yerlikaya said in a statement on X.

The assailants arrived at the ministry building in a light commercial vehicle and the attack occurred at around 9:30 a.m., according to Yerlikaya's statement. CCTV footage obtained by Reuters shows one attacker exiting the van and heading toward the building before becoming completely engulfed in an explosion.

Fahrettin Altun, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's director of communications, said authorities will investigate the attack.

"We will never allow terrorism to design Turkey's politics, and we will continue our fight against terrorism in every field," Altun said in a statement on X.

Erdoğan, in opening parliamentary remarks, sounded a defiant tone. "Those who threaten the peace and security of citizens have not achieved their goals and never will," he said.

First bomb attack since 2016

The incident was the first in Turkey since a string of attacks in 2016. In January of that year, a bomber targeted the Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, home to tourists sites such as the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and Hagia Sophia, killing 10 people and wounding 15 others.

Two months later, a suicide bomber killed five people and wounded dozens when he detonated an explosive device on a street filled with shops and pedestrians.

Another attack in central Turkey that December also left 13 soldiers dead and wounded 48 others.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Suicide bomb detonates in front of a Turkey parliamentary building