BREAKING: NUMBER OF PEOPLE DEAD AND WOUNDED IN ATTACK ON TURKISH AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES

Turkey’s interior minister says a number of people are dead and wounded after an attack on the premises of the Turkish aerospace and defence company TUSAS.

Ali Yerlikaya did not provide further details on the attack on Turkish Aerospace Industries, located on the outskirts of the capital, Ankara.

“A terrorist attack was carried out against the Turkish Aerospace Industries Ankara Kahramankazan facilities,” he wrote in a social media post.

Footage from the scene broadcast by local media initially showed huge clouds of smoke and a large fire raging at the site in Kahramankazan, a small town some 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Ankara. Media have reported a loud explosion at the site and showed footage of an exchange of gunfire there.

There was no immediate claim for the attack.

Emergency services were dispatched to the site, state-owned Anadolu Agency reported.

TUSAS is one of Turkey’s most important defence and aviation companies. It produces KAAN, the country’s first national combat aircraft, among other projects.

The blast occurred as a major trade fair for the defence and aerospace industries was taking place in Istanbul which was visited this week by Ukraine’s top diplomat.

Turkey’s defence sector, which is widely known for its Bayraktar drones, accounts for nearly 80 percent of the nation’s export revenues with revenues expected to top 10.2 billion dollars in 2023.