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Istanbul bomb attack: Two people killed and several injured after blast targets police bus during rush hour in Turkey | |
(35 minutes later) | |
At least two people have been killed and several wounded in a car bomb attack in central Istanbul. | |
A bus carrying Turkish police officers appeared to be the target of the blast, which struck during Tuesday morning's rush hour in the Vezneciler district near Istanbul University and tourist sites. | |
Gunshots were heard in the area after the explosion, the Anadolu news agency reported, and emergency services were at the scene. | |
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Isis, Kurdish militant groups and left-wing extremists have recently orchestrated attacks in Turkey. | |
A parked car packed with explosives was detonated using a remote control as the police bus passed, local reports said. The charred wreck of a patrially destroyed vehicle could be seen next to the bus, which was flipped upside down by the force of the explosion. | |
The blast also damaged nearby buildings and trees, leaving debris strewn across the road. | |
Attacks have mounted in Turkey as the Syrian civil war continues over the border and Turkish security forces continue operations in Kurdish areas of the country's south-east. | |
The country is part of the US-led coalition against Isis and allows international fighter jets to use an air base at Incirlik to launch raids. | |
Last month, two police officers were killed in a suspected Isis bombing at Gaziantep's police station and a suicide attack claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) hit near a mosque in the city of Bursa in April. | |
An Isis suicide bomber targeted tourists on Istanbul's Istiklal Street on 19 March, six days after a TAK-claimed blast in central Ankara killed more than 30 people. | |
The violence has sparked several travel warnings by the US, UK and European nations cautioning that further attacks were likely. | |
The British Government's travel advice warns that attacks could be indiscriminate and "affect places visited by foreigners". |