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Turkey Blast Kills 86 At Peace Rally

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At least 95 people are dead after a two bomb explosion detonated in the Turkish capital of Ankara. According to Turkey’s Health Minister Mehmet Muezinoglu, 186 others were wounded.

The explosions occurred seconds apart outside Ankara's main train station as hundreds were gathering for a peace rally. The rally was to call for increased democracy and an end to the renewed violence between Kurdish rebels and Turkish security forces.

Authorities say the attacks, which struck a few feet apart, were suicide bombings.

Authorities had been on alert after Turkey agreed to take a more active role in the U.S.-led battle against the Islamic State group. Turkey opened up its bases to U.S. aircraft to launch air raids on the extremist group in Syria and carried out a limited number of strikes on the group itself.

Russia has also entered the fray on behalf of the Syrian government recently, bombing sites in Syria and reportedly violating Turkish airspace a few times in the past week.

Turkish jets have also carried out numerous deadly airstrikes on Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq.

The attacks came at a tense time for the NATO-member country, which will hold a general election on Nov. 1.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu held an emergency security meeting to discuss the attack. His office said he was suspending his election campaign for the next three days.

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