Ankara police headquarters attacked by rocket fire: minister

Turkish police cordon off a street after a rocket attack damaged a police headqurters building in the Turkish capital of Ankara on September 20, 2013

Turkey's police headquarters came under attack from rocket fire in the capital Ankara on Friday evening, but no one was hurt, the interior minister said. Two rockets hit the building in the Dikmen suburb, Muammer Guler said, adding that another device that did not explode was found in a neighbouring garden. Police have set up roadblocks in a bid to intercept those responsible, the Dogan agency reported. Guler gave no indication of who might be behind the attacks, but media reports pointed the finger of blame at the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), a far-left armed group. Last March, the DHKP-C claimed similar rocket and grenade attacks on the justice ministry and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The group also claimed a suicide bomb attack on the US embassy in Ankara that killed a Turkish security agent on February 1. The NTV television station reported that the police headquarters and an adjacent building housing police social services had each been hit by the rockets. The station reported that police were tracking one suspect who had fled after the attack. Local media said both Guler and police chief Mehmet Kiliclar had gone to the scene of the incident.