An as-yet unknown number of suicide bombers attacked a rally being held outside the main train station in Ankara, Turkey on Oct. 10, killing more than 80 people. The protesters had been demonstrating for peace between the government and its Kurdish ethnic minority.
The Guardian reports that as many as 150 people were also injured. Officials say twin blasts were detonated, both targeting thousands of demonstrators who had gathered to protest alleged state violence against Turkish Kurds.
No party has yet stepped forward to claim responsibility for the carnage. Reuters reports this is believed to be the deadliest attack of its kind in Turkey.
The bombing comes just a few weeks before a hotly contested election in which Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s embattled AKP party is seeking to regain a majority in parliament.
It is proving to be a period of great upheaval in the country, as Turkish soldiers clash both with ISIL fighters and members of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the country’s southeast region (the PKK has claimed it is in the midst of a cease-fire).
“Like other terror attacks, the one at the Ankara train station targets our unity, togetherness, brotherhood and future,” president Erdoğan said in a statement reported by Reuters.