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"The explosion happened inside the American Embassy," said Mr. Yuksel, speaking to reporters as he stood with the ambassador, Francis J. Ricciardone, in front of the building. His remarks were televised.

The suicide bomber was believed to have panicked while going through security control at the entrance to the embassy, and detonated the explosives he or she carried, according to news reports, citing preliminary investigations by security officials.

"It happened two buildings ahead of us," said Yunus Emre, a worker at a restaurant frequented by embassy officials.

"Our windows shook with a loud sound, and people who worked at the embassy rushed out in panic, running towards the embassy," he said in a telephone interview. "There are already many security officials in the area at all times but police and ambulances came almost immediately after."

Fikret Bila, a columnist with Milliyet newspaper, which has offices in the embassy area, said pieces of flesh and tree branches were strewn nearby. The police sealed off the road around the embassy after the blast, Mr. Emre said.

The roads around the embassy compound, in the center of town, have been heavily protected as security authorities kept track of residents and their vehicles around the clock, according to news reports.

The motives of the attacker have yet to be confirmed. But claims in social media outlets said the explosion could have been linked with the arrest of Osama Bin Laden's son-in-law in a security operation in Ankara, an event that was reported in Milliyet newspaper on Friday.

Security officials, however, have announced no links between the embassy bombing and that arrest, Mr. Bila added.