Ankara: At least 28 people were killed and 61 wounded by a car bomb targeting the Turkish military in the heart of the capital Ankara.

The blast struck a convoy of military vehicles last night, said Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus, confirming the latest toll.

Though it is unclear as to who had carried out the attack, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed retaliation against the perpetrators of the attack.

“Turkey will not shy away from using its right to self-defence at any time, any place or any occasion,” he said.

The car bomb detonated when a convoy of military buses carrying dozens of soldiers stopped at traffic lights in central Ankara, sparking panic and chaos.

The army said the attack took place at 2200 IST and had targeted “service vehicles carrying army personnel”.

The bombing prompted Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to scrap a planned trip to Brussels on Thursday to discuss Europe’s migrant crisis. Erdogan also shelved a trip to Azerbaijan.

Washington in a statement strongly condemned “the terrorist attack on Turkish military personnel and civilians” and reaffirmed US solidarity with the key NATO partner.