In what might be the first major attack on an American diplomatic facility since the Benghazi assault in September, a suicide bomber detonated at the entrance to the U.S. embassy in Ankara, the capitol of NATO ally Turkey, early Friday morning, killing two.
Details are still coming in about the attack, but the early portrait of the assault differs significantly from the hours-long battle that pelted the Benghazi consulate with rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and small arms fire. The suicide bomber appears to be the sole assaulting force. He launched his attack at a security checkpoint outside the embassy, not penetrating the walls of a facility located beside other diplomatic compounds ' here's a schematic, from the BBC ' in a tony neighborhood near major urban thoroughfares. The AP calls the embassy 'heavily protected.' There appear to be neither preceding attacks in recent months, nor a follow-on assault, as was the case in Benghazi.
There are mixed reports on the identity of the other person killed in the blast. AP cites 'two security guards' dead at the checkpoint. Sinem Cengiz, a reporter for the Today's Zaman newspaper ' which shot the video above ' says an 'American security staff' member died. The State Department has yet return a request seeking confirmation and additional information.
U.S. Ambassador Frank Ricciardone was unhurt in the attack. He told reporters that a Turkish national was injured. 'We believe there might be others injured among our guards,' Ricciardone stated. 'The compound is secure.'
No terrorist group has yet taken responsibility for the assault. A Turkish reporter speculated on Twitter that al-Qaida might have pulled off the bombing, as Osama bin Laden's son-in-law was recently detained in Turkey. Speculation also runs to a local 'leftist terror organization' called DHKP-C; al-Qaida-aligned terrorists transiting to and from the destabilized Syria on Turkey's southeastern frontier; and the Kurdish separatist terrorist group known as the PKK. To be absolutely clear, that's just speculation, in the absence of hard evidence.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland emails reporters: 'We can confirm a terrorist blast at a check point on the perimeter of our embassy compound in Ankara, Turkey, at 1:13 p.m. local time. We are working closely with the Turkish national police to make a full assessment of the damage and the casualties, and to begin an investigation. We will share more information as it becomes available.'
U.S. diplomatic facilities are becoming a target of opportunity for terrorist groups seeking a visible yet accessible symbol of American power. Much easier to strike that U.S. military installations, longstanding diplomatic accords make security for protecting embassies and consulates often the responsibility of the nation hosting them. In more volatile areas, the U.S. supplements that protection by hiring guards ' who vary widely in quality. And after Benghazi, money is expected to pour into security upgrades for U.S. diplomatic outposts. Wall Street Journal reporter Yaroslav Trofimov tweets a reminder that in addition to Benghazi, the American diplomatic facilities in Cairo, Khartoum and Tunis were recently assaulted, although the scale of those attacks was smaller than both Ankara and Benghazi.
The State Department seems not to have been overly concerned about the security of the Ankara embassy. An emergency travel warning in October does not mention Ankara, but urged Americans to avoid the the southern provinces of Turkey that abut Syria. Welcome to the job, Secretary of State John Kerry.
We'll update this piece as new information comes in.
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