Al-Alam News Channel said in a report that it was not immediately known what caused the explosion, but some reports had it that a suspected bomber detonated his explosives inside a security checkpoint at the entrance to the embassy’s visa section.
According to the report, the explosion caused damage to the checkpoint, but there was no damage inside the embassy.
The explosion occurred in one of the peripheral entrances of the embassy. Smoke is seen from the explosion site, and ambulances and firefighters have been dispatched to the site, the report added.
A 40--year-old female Turkish citizen has also been severely injured due to the blast, other reports said.
Francis Ricciardone, Washington’s ambassador in Ankara, told reporters only briefly that it [the blast] was a terrorist attack and that cooperation between the American and Turkish officials will continue on the issue.
Tough security measures were still being observed outside the second entrance to the US embassy, and security forces were trying to disperse reporters from the site of the incident.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.
In 2008, three police officers and three gunmen were killed in an attack outside the American consulate in Istanbul.