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Istanbul blast: 11 killed in bomb attack on police vehicle Istanbul bomb attack on police vehicle kills 11
(35 minutes later)
Eleven people have been killed and 36 injured in a bomb attack targeting a police vehicle in central Istanbul, the Turkish city’s governor has said. At least 11 people have been killed in a car bomb attack targeting a police vehicle in central Istanbul, the latest in a series of terror attacks in Turkey.
The blast occurred at a busy junction in the Beyazit district, near an Istanbul University building, and was caused by a bomb placed inside a car that was detonated as the police vehicle passed by, Vasip Şahin said. The explosion occurred at a busy intersection in the Vezneciler district during morning rush hour, near Istanbul University and the Grand Bazaar, a popular tourist attraction in the historic Sultanahmet neighbourhood.
Seven of the dead were police officers, and three of the injured were in a critical condition, he added. The Istanbul governor, Vasip Sahin, said a parked car packed with explosives was detonated by remote control the moment a bus carrying riot police personnel passed by.
The police bus was overturned by the force of the blast, which also damaged nearby buildings and cars. A hotel’s entrance appeared gutted and windows had been blown out. Seven of those killed were police officers, Sahin said, and three of the 36 injured remained in a critical condition.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility and Şahin would not comment on who may have been behind the attack. Turkey’s state-run Anadolu agency said that four people had been detained. The explosion destroyed the police bus, damaged nearby cars and buildings, and blew out windows on shops and hotels more than 50 metres from the blast site.
Cevher, a shopkeeper, told Reuters that the blast was strong enough to topple all the goods from the shelves of his store. “There was a loud bang, we thought it was lightning but right at that second the windows of the shop came down,” he said. “It was extremely scary.” “The explosion catapulted me out of bed,” said a 22-year-old man who worked in a nearby restaurant. “It was massive. I also heard the sounds of gunshots right afterwards. When I went out to look it was an awful scene. People were sprawled on the ground, many had lost limbs, there was blood everywhere.”
Mustafa Celik, 51, who owns a tourism agency in a backstreet near the blast site, likened the impact of the explosion to an earthquake. “We were told that it was police trying to keep people away from the blast scene,” he said. “I felt the pressure as if the ground beneath me moved. I’ve never felt anything this powerful before.” Turkey has been on a high security alert after two deadly attacks in Istanbul this year blamed on Islamic State (Isis) jihadis, and twin attacks in Ankara that killed dozens and were claimed by Kurdish militants.
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said Turkey would press ahead with its fight against terrorism. He told reporters: “These [attacks] are being carried out against people whose duty it is to ensure the security of our people. These cannot be pardoned or forgiven. We shall continue our fight against terrorists tirelessly until the end.” There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday’s blast, and Turkish authorities issued a broadcast ban on the attack. Hours after the explosion, police detained four people for questioning for their possible involvement, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. The suspects were taken to Istanbul’s main police headquarters, the report said, without providing further details.
Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, the foreign minister, condemned the attack, which occurred on the second day of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. “They [the attackers] are cold-heartedly exploding bombs on a Ramadan day,” he said in a television interview.
The country has been on a high security alert after two deadly attacks in Istanbul this year blamed on Islamic State jihadis, and twin attacks in Ankara that killed dozens and were claimed by Kurdish militants.
More: footage coming from the explosion area where a parked vehicle detonated during police vehicle passing #Turkeypic.twitter.com/G5gePk8l50More: footage coming from the explosion area where a parked vehicle detonated during police vehicle passing #Turkeypic.twitter.com/G5gePk8l50
The Ankara attacks were claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), a radical splinter group of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK). PKK rebels have been targeting police and military targets since July when a fragile peace process collapsed. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hinted at the involvement of armed Kurdish militants. The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, a radical offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) claimed both Ankara attacks this year, and the PKK has been targeting police and military since July 2015, when the collapse of a ceasefire between the Kurdish militants and the Turkish government brought a fledgling peace process to an end.
The PKK is fighting for autonomy for Turkey’s Kurds in the south-east of the country. It has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state in a conflict that has claimed 40,000 lives. The group is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey and its allies. An umbrella seller said it was the third time he had barely escaped a terror attack over the past year. “I survived two bomb attacks in Ankara, and now this,” he said, pointing to a broken umbrella. “The blast ripped it from my hand, I was left with only the handle. A building between me and the bomb protected me. So many people are dying. It’s terrible, it needs to stop.”
Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report In side streets around the blast site, shopkeepers swept up broken glass and shared footage with each other on their mobile phones.
“We are still in shock, I still cannot believe it,” said Recep, 51, a municipal official who works in an office near the blast site. “Of course we are scared, how couldn’t we be?”
Erdoğan vowed that Turkey would continue its fight against terrorism, telling reporters: “The differentiation that the terrorist organisation makes between civilians, soldiers and police officers is meaningless. In the end these [attacks] target human beings [whose] duty it is to protect the people of this country. These attacks cannot be pardoned or forgiven. We will keep fighting tirelessly against those terrorists until the end. We are devastated, but there is a price to pay for everything.”
The foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, also condemned the bomb attack. “[These attackers] are cold-heartedly exploding bombs on a day of Ramadan,” he said in a Turkish television interview after the attack.
Business owners in Vezneciler said they were worried about the impact the attack would have on their work and income.
“Tourism has already gone down over the past months,” said Zeki, 33, working with a local hotel. “Since the downing of the [Russian fighter jet last year], the numbers of visitors have gone down, but these bomb attacks make it worse every time. But Turkey is a strong country, we will not let outside powers weaken us.”
Some local shopkeepers expressed discontent. “We are used to these explosion now, they made us get used to them,” said one 60-year-old owner of a textile business, motioning at the cracked windows of his shop. “Our government isn’t interested in our safety, they’re interested in how many children a woman should have.”
The tourism sector in Turkey has been in freefall over deteriorating relations with former allies such as Russia, from where a large number of visitors used to visit.
In addition to the ongoing conflicts in neighbouring Syria and Iraq, violence in the predominantly Kurdish south-east of the country has surged in recent months, leading to yet more fears about possible terrorist attacks.
One result is that tourists, one major source of income for Turkey, have stayed away. According to the Turkish tourism ministry, the proportion of visitors in April was 28% lower than in the same month last year.