Turkey Drops Claims Against Police Over Deadly Ankara Bombings

Turkish prosecutors have dropped a probe into senior security officials suspected of negligence over a massive suicide bombing that killed 103 people in Ankara last year, Anatolia news agency reported Friday.

Turkey blamed the October attack, in which two bombers blew themselves up at a crowded peace rally, on Islamic State group extremists acting under orders from their leadership in Syria.

Three senior Ankara police officials, including the city's police chief, were sacked soon afterwards amid accusations of security lapses and a wave of public anger at the deadliest attack in Turkey's modern history.

A negligence probe into the chief, his deputy and other officers was dropped because the local administration, which has authority over security forces, refused to approve pursuing the case, Anatolia said, citing the prosecutor's office.

After the attack, which came three weeks before parliamentary elections, opposition parties accused the government of deliberately neglecting security for the rally that was hit.