ISTANBUL (CIHAN) - An explosion has rattled the Hilton Hotel in the Turkish capital Ankara on Thursday morning, causing an upsurge in tension ahead of the visit of the US President George W. Bush to the city.
Two police officers were wounded in the explosion. The leg of one of the officers was ripped off by the blast while the other officer sustained injuries to his face. Security officers have cordoned off the area while cars parked in the street where the Hilton Hotel is situated have been removed. The police are continuing their search for other possible explosive devices at the scene.
The windows of houses near the explosion were blown in. The blast occurred when a percussion bomb in a suspected bag exploded as police officers were sealing off the area around the bag.
The blast took place 20 meters away from the Hilton hotel where the US President will stay during his one-day visit to Ankara. The US President George W. Bush is expected to arrive in Ankara on Saturday evening.
The blast has not yet been claimed by any organization. Police have enforced intensive security measures across Ankara following the blast near the Hilton Hotel.
Turkish State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Mehmet Ali Sahin told reporters that they would step up security measures across Turkey ahead of the NATO Summit.
Ankara anti-terrorist teams had detained 12 people on Tuesday evening, who were suspected of being members of the Tekfir wing of the outlawed radical Selefi terrorist organization.
A bomb expert was wounded in Istanbul on Tuesday morning when a bomb tied to a placard exploded.
The recent minor bomb attacks against HSBC-bank offices in Ankara and Istanbul caused no casualties but kept security forces on alert as to the possibility of further terrorist attacks.
Security across Turkey is under the spotlight in the build-up to the NATO Summit to be held in Istanbul on June 28-29. Istanbul will be under air, sea and land security watch during the NATO summit.
Nearly three thousand delegates from 46 countries and 3500 journalists are expected to arrive in Turkey to follow the Summit.
Nearly 20 thousand security force personnel will be on duty during the summit.
In an anti-terrorist operation in the province of Bursa relating to Ansar Al Islam last month, Turkish police foiled a bomb plot against the upcoming NATO Summit in Istanbul. Police detained a total of 16 people suspected of planning to attack the NATO Summit and along with synagogues in Bursa.
A Turkish cell of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network carried out the deadly suicide attacks which targeted Jewish and British interests in Istanbul last November, killing 61 people and injuring over 750.