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Turkish media report explosion in Istanbul Suicide bomb attack in Istanbul kills 4, 20 wounded
(about 1 hour later)
ANKARA, Turkey — An explosion on Istanbul’s main pedestrian shopping street on Saturday has injured at least two people, Turkish media reports say. The Dogan news agency says the attack is believed to be a suicide bombing and injured at least five people. ISTANBUL — A suicide attacker detonated a bomb on Istanbul’s main pedestrian shopping street on Saturday, killing four people, the city’s governor said. Twenty other people were injured in the attack. The attacker was among the dead.
The state-run Anadolu Agency reports that ambulances were responding to the explosion on Istiklal Street, which is also home to cafes, restaurants and foreign consulate buildings. Private NTV television said the explosion occurred outside a shopping mall. Governor Vasip Sahin said the explosion occurred outside a local government office on Istiklal Street, which is also home to cafes, restaurants and foreign consulate buildings. Dogan news agency says at least three of the injured are Israeli nationals.
The explosion comes as Turkey is on edge following two recent suicide bomb attacks in the capital, Ankara which were claimed by a Kurdish militant group, that is an off-shoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. The explosion comes as Turkey is on edge following two recent suicide car bomb attacks in the capital, Ankara, which were claimed by a Kurdish militant group, which is an off-shoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. The most recent attack, on March 13, targeted a line of bus stops on Ankara’s busiest street and killed 37 including two bombers.
Turkey had heightened security in Ankara and Istanbul in the run up to a Kurdish spring festival on March 21. Police sealed off the area as a helicopter hovered overhead. A forensic team was at the scene.
“It was one loud explosion,” said Muhammed Fatur, a Syrian who works at a nearby butcher shop. “Police came to the scene and sealed off the area.”
Turkey had heightened security in Ankara and Istanbul in the run-up to a Kurdish spring festival of Newroz on March 21, which Kurds in Turkey traditionally use to assert their ethnic identity and demand greater rights.
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Fraser reported from Ankara
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.