Chaos rocked the capital city of Ankara, Turkey when twin bombings killed at least 86 and injured nearly 200 on Saturday morning. The blasts were at the city’s main train station during a peace rally around 10 a.m. local time and may have been the work of suicide bombers, authorities said. The bombings occurred just weeks ahead of the country’s national elections, scheduled for Nov. 1.
It is unclear as of now who or what had set off the blasts, though officials suspected that the bombings were possibly the work of Islamic State militants (the group has not yet claimed responsibility). Some have also speculated that the Kurdish separatists, who have been involved in violent skirmishes with the Turkish state since a longstanding ceasefire between the two sides broke down in July, might have been responsible for the attack. As the BBC reported Saturday, tensions between the two sides have been escalating for months, and given the nature of the rally, where the pro-Kurdish HDP party (People’s Democratic Party) was in attendance, some speculate that an attack from the group is equally plausible.
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Image: EEAS