A bomb at a shopping mall in Turkey's capital Ankara killed four Turks and one Pakistani today and injured more than 60 people, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said.
"We have seen a vicious, ruthless terror attack at Ankara's busiest time," a visibly shaken Mr Erdogan told reporters. He said steps would be taken following this deadly blast, coming before parliamentary elections.
Police officers at the scene said A-4 explosives were believed to the cause of the blast.
Police have detained seven people in connection with the bomb, Turkish broadcaster NTV said. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan visited the scene of the blast, believed to have been caused by a bomb. The explosion, believed to be one of the worst in the capital in recent years, comes amid heightened political tension in Turkey.
Mr Erdogan's ruling AK Party has called a national election ahead of schedule to resolve a conflict with the secularist elite over a recent presidential election.
The secular establishment, including the military, judges and opposition parties, derailed the government's plan to elect Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul as president, fearing he might weaken the official separation of religion and state. The PKK has been fighting for an ethnic homeland in a campaign of bombings, kidnappings and firefights since 1984, and Ankara blames it for more than 30,000 deaths.
Kurdish separatists, leftist militants and hardline Islamists have all launched bomb attack in Turkey in the past. In 2003, 30 people were killed and 146 wounded when suicide car bombs hit two synagogues in Istanbul. Five days later, 32 people were killed in similar attacks on the British consulate and HSBC bank in the city.
The bombs were blamed on al Qaeda. Kurdish rebels launched a series bomb attacks on tourist sites in Turkey last year, killing more than a dozen people.