A police officer walks past by a fire after an explosion that killed people and wounded several others in southern city of Adana, Turkey, on Thursday (AP photo)

ISTANBUL — An explosion killed two people and wounded more than 30 outside the governor's office in the southern Turkish city of Adana on Thursday, weeks after the United States warned of attacks by what it called extremist groups. He told the state-run Anadolu Agency that the explosion occurred close to the entrance to his office and suggested it may have been a suicide attack carried out by a woman. The attack is believed to have been carried out by a woman, Adana governor Mahmut Demirtas was quoted as saying by Anadolu, without providing further details. The explosion took place just after 8:00am on Thursday in a car park near the government building in the city of Adana, and is believed to have been carried out by a woman with links to Kurdish militants or Isis. Following the explosion, Omer Celik, minister in charge of European Union affairs who lives in Adana, wrote on Twitter: “This damnable terror is continuing to target our people. We will continue our struggle against terrorism until the end in the name of humanity.“

The minister later added: “The ones who target our peace and fundamental rights of our citizens will be punished in the strongest way possible within rule of law.”

The blast damaged the government building, according to Anadolu Agency, and video footage showed several cars caught fire after the explosion, with some of the wounded are reported to be in serious condition. Video footage showed a vehicle ablaze in the car park outside the building and thick black smoke rising into the sky in the city, 40 km (25 miles) from Turkey's Mediterranean coast. The explosion sparked a fire, with a cloud of dark smoke spewing into the sky, and caused damage to the governorate itself, state-run Anadolu news agency said, describing the blast as a "terror attack". A Turkish soldier was killed and two wounded on Thursday after an improvised explosive device was detonated by suspected PKK militants in the southeastern province of Sirnak, near the Syrian and Iraqi borders, security sources said.
A suspected car bomb outside the office of the governor of the southern Turkish province of Adana kills at least two people and injures 16.