A suicide car bomb ripped through a busy square in central Ankara, killing at least 34 people and wounding 125, officials have said, the latest in a spate of deadly attacks to hit Turkey. The blast on Sunday at a bus stop near Kizilay square is the second major attack in the heart of the Turkish capital in less than a month, after a suicide car bombing on February 17 targeting the military that killed 29 people, claimed by a dissident faction of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The fact that militants were able to strike again so soon in an area close to the prime minister's office, parliament and foreign embassies will raise fresh questions about Turkey's ability to manage the twin security threat posed by the Islamic State group (IS) and Kurdish rebels.

Sunday's blast comes at a delicate moment for Turkey, as it seeks to persuade the European Union to speed up its path to membership of the bloc in return for help with the migrant crisis.

French President Francois Hollande condemned the "vile attack" and said France stood alongside Turkey in the fight against terror, while the US ambassador in Ankara, John Bass, said he was "deeply saddened and horrified" by what had happened.

Soon after the attack a judge in Ankara banned the sharing of images and other content related to the blast on social media sites, including Facebook and Twitter.