Dozens of casualties in blast at Ankara train station

Two explosions on a road near the main train station of the Turkish capital Ankara have killed at least 86 people and injured nearly 200, the city’s prosecutor said Saturday, during a peaceful political.

An explosion hit Ankara train station Saturday morning leaving dozens of people dead and injured, according to sources.

Thousands of People’s Democratic Party (HDP) supporters were reportedly expected to take part in a peace march through the capital around the time of the explosions.

Violence between the state and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants has flared since July, when Turkey launched air strikes on militant camps in response to what it said were rising attacks on the security forces in the predominantly Kurdish southeast. Leader Selahattin Demirtaş labelled the government “a murderer”.

In July, a suicide bombing blamed on the Islamic State group killed 33 people in a town near Turkey’s border with Syria.

Amateur footage broadcast by NTV television showed smiling activists holding hands and dancing and then falling to the ground as the huge explosion went off behind them.

It was not clear if the attacks were suicide bombings.

An Anadolu Agency correspondent at the scene said at least 10 people were killed in the blast and many wounded.

The office of Davutoglu said that he had cancelled election campaigning for the next three days.

The attack came amid reports that the PKK was preparing to announce a unilateral cease-fire that would last until the November 1 election.

The government has previously dismissed any possible Kurdish cease-fire plans, saying the rebels must lay down their arms and leave the Turkish territory.