Turkey: 3 killed, 15 injured in bomb blast

A suspected car bomb went off near a high school, igniting other vehicles, killing 3 people and injuring 15 in a nearby building , Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin said.The explosion was “highly likely to be a terrorist attack,” the minister said and added the explosion occurred in a place where car and people traffic is intense. The parked car was purchased a week ago but it was not yet registered.Kurdish rebels fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey have recently escalated their attacks on Turkish targets, but Islamist and leftist militants have also carried out some bombings in this NATO member and US ally.Kurdish rebels were blamed for a small bomb attack in the Mediterranean resort town of Kemer that wounded 10 people, including four Swedes on Aug. 28. Turkish warplanes bombed suspected rebel hideouts in northern Iraq last month in response to the escalation of attacks by the guerrillas. The bodies of three people were found in a building near the car that exploded in downtown Ankara, Sahin said. Fifteen people were also wounded, he added.Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said police had information that a bomb was planted on the car, although other officials quoted a witness as saying that a burning gas canister had been tossed onto the vehicle. The explosion sparked a series of blasts in adjacent vehicles.