Bomb Blast Wounds 16 Turkish Officers

ANKARA, Turkey - A bomb went off as explosive experts tried to defuse it Friday, wounding 16 police officers who had come to investigate an earlier blast, an official said.

The explosion occurred when a bomb expert, wearing no protective gear, opened a bag containing the explosives outside a government training center for prosecutors and judges in the capital. Many of the policemen injured had gathered to see the bomb being defused.

"Sixteen officers were wounded, two of them are in critical condition," said Ankara Gov. Yahya Gur.
The police had rushed to the scene after a previous explosion shattered the windows of the training center. That was apparently also caused by a bomb.

There was no claim of responsibility, Gur said. Militant leftist and Islamist groups are active in Turkey and have carried out bombings in the past.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030801/ap_on_re_mi_ea/turkey_explosion_1

Terrible thing.