HDP HQ the original target of Ankara suicide bombers: Turkey's state-run news agency

The original target of the two suicide bombers who attacked a peace rally in Ankara on Oct. 10 was the headquarters of the Kurdish problem-focused Peoples? Democratic Party (HDP), the state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

The suicide bombers in the Oct. 10 attack, which killed at least 102 people, initially planned to attack the HDP headquarters before learning of the rally and then changing their plan, Anadolu Agency reported early on Oct. 21, citing anonymous ?terror and intelligence experts.?

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor?s Office, in charge of the investigation into the twin bombings in the Turkish capital, announced that key material and tons of explosives had been seized in raids in the southern province of Gaziantep up to Oct. 19. The office said the vehicle used for the Ankara bombing, 2,500 kilograms of ammonium nitrate (used in the making of explosives), 10 suicide bomber vests, a sewing machine used in the sewing of the vests, hand grenades, rifles, bullets, many detonators, and a variety of materials used to make explosives, were seized in raids conducted on houses, work places and depots thought to have been used as cell houses in Gaziantep. 

According to Anadolu Agency, the large amount of ammonium nitrate found in one cell house was planned to be used for an attack on the Ankara headquarters of the HDP, one of the organizers of the Oct. 10 peace rally where its grassroots had a major presence. 

Suspects allegedly allocated 11,000 Turkish Liras for buying a pickup truck that would be loaded with bombs before being carried to Ankara onboard a tow truck. After putting a provincial Ankara license plate on the truck, it would have been left in a side street near the HDP HQ, the agency said, citing anonymous sources....