Blast Reported At Ankara Military Building [IMAGES]

This story is developing; we will provide more details as they become available.

Multiple injuries are being reported at a military building in the Turkish capital of Ankara. Reports indicate that a vehicle exploded; according to the Dogan News Agency (via Hurriyet Daily News), a shuttle bus carry military personnel was attacked. However, officials have not said what caused the blast.

Deaths, injuries reported in Ankara explosion

Photos of the military dormitory where the blast happened show lots of smoke rising from the area. The building where it occurred is about 300 meters away from the parliament building and command posts from the Presidency of General Staff and Army, the Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard.

According to the Associated Press, Ankara’s governor says at least five people have been killed in the explosion and another ten were injured. The governor also confirmed that the blast was caused by a car bomb which exploded a military service vehicle drove past. Officials are now treating the explosion as a terrorist attack, according to the Daily Sabah.

Sky News reports that several cars and at least two or three buses caught fire as a result of the blast, while The Independent reports that “several” military vehicles may be affected.

Ankara blast seen as an act of terror

According to Al Jazeera, the explosion was obviously a message sent by terrorists to the Turkish government, noting that this is the fourth big explosion that has happened in the country over the last few months. In one of the attacks, a suicide bomber killed ten people last month in Istanbul. However, no group has yet claimed responsibility for today’s explosion.

Meanwhile Turkish leaders fight to hold back the U.S.-led Kurdish militia as fighters attempt to gain a foothold along the nation’s border with Syria. President Tayyip Erdogan warned today that they will keep shelling the area if security is threatened, reports Reuters. The YPG militia has been taking advantage of the Syrian army’s offensive in the area of Aleppo, which Russia is backing with air strikes as Syria tries to take ground from rebels along the Turkish border.

Turkish leaders want to establish a safe zone just inside Syria along the border but has yet to win any support.