ISTANBUL: A car bomb exploded in the car park of the governor’s office in the southern Turkish city of Adana on Thursday killing two people and wounding 33, officials said, in the latest attack to rock Turkey this year.

The explosion sparked a fire, with a cloud of dark smoke spewing into the sky, and caused damage to the governorate itself, state-run Anadolu news agency said, describing the blast as a “terror attack”.

The attack is believed to have been carried out by a woman, Adana governor Mahmut Demirtas was quoted as saying by Anadolu, without providing further details.

Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law, said two people were killed and 33 wounded, including one in critical condition.

Speaking to reporters after inspecting the site, Albayrak condemned the attack and said: “We have no fear from anything other than Allah.” As has been the case with previous attacks, Turkish authorities immediately slapped a broadcast ban on footage from the scene.

With a population of almost two million, Adana is one of Turkey’s largest cities, located around 100 kilometres from the Syrian border.

The US consulate in the city had in September warned its citizens of a potential threat targeting US-branded hotels there. “We strongly condemn the outrageous terrorist attack in Adana,” the US embassy in Ankara said on Twitter, adding that the United States stands “with Turkey against terror”.

Incirlik air base, just outside Adana, is used by American and coalition forces as a hub for air raids against IS militants in neighbouring Syria.

The attack came on the same day that three Turkish soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in an air strike in northern Syria that Turkey blamed on the Syrian regime.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2016