Leftist group claims attacks in Turkey
Organization said to be responsible for last month’s embassy bombing now hits Ankara government offices
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ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A banned leftist group that carried out a suicide bombing at the US Embassy last month claimed responsibility for attacks on two government offices in the Turkish capital on Wednesday.
Assailants fired a rocket at Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party headquarters and hurled two hand-grenades at the Justice Ministry’s parking lot late Tuesday, wounding one person.
The outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front, or DHKP-C, said it carried out the attacks in retaliation for a recent police crackdown on its members, in a statement posted on a website linked to the group.
The statement said the group’s “warriors” attacked the two building, accusing Erdogan’s government of “injustices.” It also threatened more attacks.
Hundreds of members of the group were arrested in a series of police raids in the past two months. A security guard was killed in the group’s suicide bombing attack at the US embassy in Ankara last month. DHKP-C has claimed responsibility for assassinations and bombings since the 1970s, but it has been relatively quiet in recent years.
DHKP-C is considered as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
US Ambassador Francis Riccardonne visited the ruling party’s headquarters on Wednesday to express his country’s solidarity with Turkey.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
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