Istanbul police kill two female leftist militants in standoff
ISTANBUL: Turkish police killed two female leftist militants who hurled grenades and opened fire at an Istanbul police station on Thursday, officials said.
The two women – members of the outlawed ultra- leftist Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP- C) – had taken refuge in an apartment after their attack in the Bayrampasa district.
Police then launched an assault on the apartment, and the two were ‘ neutralised,’ Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin was quoted as saying by the official Anatolia news agency. Two police officers were slightly wounded.
The women were named as Cigdem Yaksi and Berna Yilmaz, both members of the DHKP- C and aged 27, Anatolia said. It said Yilmaz had previously been jailed after a protest against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2010 while he was still premier.
In a statement on its website and social media channels, the DHKP- C claimed the attack and acknowledged the death of the pair, describing the women as ‘warriors for justice.’
The two women had thrown several grenades then opened fire at the riot police headquarters and also attacked a passing police bus. Security footage broadcast on television showed them brandishing weapons they pulled out of their handbags.
Officers returned fire, injuring one of the attackers before they f led to the nearby building. Turkey has been on a state of alert for months since a series of deadly attacks on its soil. — AFP