ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – Two suicide bombers blew themselves up after refusing to surrender to police during an operation in the outskirts of the capital Ankara Saturday, a senior official said. No one else was killed or hurt.
Governor Erkan Topaca said police, acting on a tip, launched an operation to catch a man and a woman who were suspected of planning a suicide car bombing in Ankara. They were hiding inside a hut at a horse farm in the district of Haymana, just outside of the capital.
“Police called on them to surrender. They did not respond in a positive way. They blew themselves up before we could intervene,” Topaca told reporters at the scene.
Topaca said it was “highly likely” that the one of them was linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has carried out a series of suicide car bombings over the past year.
“The organization they are connected to is not clear yet but 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,” he said.