Turkey: Two Suspects Arrested With Links To Ankara New Year’s Bomb Plot
Turkish police have arrested two suspects over an alleged suicide bomb plot to attack New Year’s Eve revelers in the capital Ankara, officials said Wednesday.
The suspects – identified as M.C. and A.Y. – are said to be members of Daesh who planned to attack the city’s main square, which is the scene of annual Dec. 31 celebrations.
Ankara was targeted by twin suicide bombings on Oct. 10, when 103 people were killed in an attack on protesters gathering outside the city’s main train station for a peace rally.
The attack, which left hundreds wounded, was the deadliest in modern Turkish history and has been attributed to Daesh supporters.
Ankara Chief Prosecutor’s office said the suspects had targeted two locations near Kizilay, a shopping and restaurant district in the heart of the city, and were equipped with explosive vests packed with steel ball bearings.
Prosecutors said the arrests were carried out in Yakup Abdal, a neighborhood on the southern outskirts of Ankara, but gave no detail on the timing of the police operation.
The suspects are being held by counter-terrorist police.
