A minibus carrying around 300 kgs of explosives was yesterday found in the Kurtulus area of Ankara.

The police had found the minibus in a multi-storey car park, and had closed the surrounding area to traffic as a precautionary measure.

Bomb disabled 

Trained sniffer dogs were then brought in to examine the Mercedes Vito minibus. When the presence of explosives had been confirmed, the police used jammers in order to prevent the bomb from being set off with a remote control or a mobile phone.

It took the bomb disposal squad around three and a half hours to disable the explosive device. The minibus was then taken away for forensic examination.

Al Qaida and PKK mentioned

Ankara governor Kemal Önal said, “We have been saved from disaster” and congratulated the police on their two-day intelligence efforts.

Statements are mentioning Al Qaida and the PKK as possible suspects. Based on information from police officers, newspapers have said that the explosives resemble those used in the bombing of the HSBC building and the British Consulate in İstanbul.

According to the media, the Ankara governor’s Office claims that the explosives resemble those used by the PKK.

Deliberately discovered?

Former Intelligence officer Mahir Kaynak was quoted in the Zaman newspaper as saying, “A vehicle full of explosives is ready for action. It would not wait around. I believe this attempt was supposed to be found.”

In today’s Star newspaper, Kaynak said there was a possibility that a secret service had found out that similar acts were planned and had organised this thwarted attempt as a warning. (TK/AG)

*This article has used information from ntvmsnbc, Radikal, Zaman and Star newspapers.