Turkish forensic police search near the bus after an explosion in Istanbul, on March 1, 2012. — Photo by AFP

ANKARA: A percussion bomb exploded near the Turkish prime ministry building in the capital Ankara on Monday, about an hour before a cabinet meeting was due to be held there, and one person was slightly injured, state TV said.

Police were searching the area where the explosion took place, in a car park for both the prime ministry and the Appeals Court.

Percussion bombs make a loud noise, but cause little if any damage.

The blast follows a remote-controlled bomb attack in Istanbul on Thursday last week which wounded 15 policemen and one civilian.

Kurdish separatists, Islamist militants - including al Qaeda - as well as groups on the far left and right have all carried out bomb attacks in Turkey, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.

A group connected to the separatist militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) claimed responsibility for a car bomb that killed three people in Ankara in September and threatened more attacks on Turkish cities.

The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) said at the time the capital was the “beginning of a series of attacks” and said it was behind a previous attack in Antalya, on the Mediterranean coast, where several tourists were wounded by a small explosion on a beach.

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