Eight die in Turkey attacks
ISTANBUL/DIYABAKIR: The US consulate in Istanbul came under gunfire yesterday and at least eight people were killed in a wave of separate attacks on Turkish security forces, weeks after Ankara launched a crackdown on the self-styled Islamic State (IS), Kurdish and far-left militants.
The Nato member has been in a heightened state of alert since starting its “synchronised war on terror” last month, which has included air strikes against IS fighters in Syria and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in northern Iraq. It has also rounded up hundreds of suspected militants at home.
Police armed with automatic rifles cordoned off streets around the US consulate in the Sariyer district on the European side of Istanbul, following the gun attack there.
Local media reports said two attackers, a man and a woman, fled after police fired back. There were no immediate reports of civilian injuries. Broadcaster NTV said police later detained the female suspect, who was wounded in the gunfire.
The Dogan news agency said the woman was aged 51 and had served prison time for being a suspected member of the far-left Revolutionary People’s Liberation ArmyFront (DHKP-C), which is virulently anti-American and is listed as a terrorist organisation by the US and Turkey.
“We are working with Turkish authorities to investigate the incident. The Consulate General remains closed until further notice,” a consulate official said.
On the other side of Istanbul, a vehicle laden with explosives was used in an attack on a police station, injuring three officers and seven civilians, police said.
Broadcaster CNN Turk said two gunmen and an officer from the police bomb squad, who was sent to investigate, were later killed in a firefight. Shooting continued into yes- terday morning in the Sultanbeyli district on the Asian side of the Bosphorus waterway, which divides Istanbul, as police carried out raids.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either of the attacks, but US diplomatic missions and police stations have been targeted by far-left groups in Turkey in the past.
The DHKP-C, whose members are among those detained in recent weeks, claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at the US embassy in Ankara in 2013 which killed a Turkish security guard.
Violence between the security forces and suspected militants also intensified in the mainly Kurdish southeast.
Four police officers were killed when their armoured vehicle was hit by a roadside blast in the town of Silopi, security sources said.
A soldier was also killed when Kurdish militants opened fire on a military helicopter in a separate attack in Sirnak. Security sources said at least seven other soldiers were wounded.
The military launched an air campaign against PKK camps in northern Iraq on July 24 after a resurgence of militant attacks. State-run Anadolu news agency said more than 260 militants had been killed. The violence has left a peace process with the PKK, begun by President Tayyip Erdogan in 2012, in tatters.