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A suicide bomber blew himself up in Istanbul’s main square on Sunday, wounding 22 people, including 10 policemen and 12 passersby
Istanbul: A suspected suicide bomber targeting Turkish police wounded 22 people in the center of Istanbul on Sunday.
No organization has claimed responsibility, officials said, though the city has been targeted by Kurdish separatist militants, Al Qaida and other groups in the past.
“It was a suicide bomb and it appears as if the bomber blew himself up. It appears to be a male body,” Istanbul police chief Huseyin Capkin told reporters.
Twelve civilians and 10 policemen were wounded in the attack in Taksim Square, Istanbul Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu told reporters.
The blast occurred in mid morning, next to a republic monument celebrating Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, and victory in the war of independence in 1923.
Cell phone footage taken just after the explosion showed a woman lying close to the monument bleeding from her leg, and a policeman also lying with blood streaming from his head.
A taxi driver told CNN Turk news channel he saw a 30 to 33 year-old man approach the police to ask directions, at which point the bomb detonated. Another witness said that two men had approached the police.
CNN-Turk said a second bomb was found close to the dead bomber, but state-run Anatolian news agency said parts of a bomb were found and it was unclear if it was part of the exploded bomb or a second device. Taksim square is a tourist attraction and transport hub, surrounded by restaurants, shops and hotels in Istanbul. REUTERS
Istanbul: A suspected suicide bomber targeting Turkish police wounded 22 people in the center of Istanbul on Sunday.
No organization has claimed responsibility, officials said, though the city has been targeted by Kurdish separatist militants, Al Qaida and other groups in the past.
“It was a suicide bomb and it appears as if the bomber blew himself up. It appears to be a male body,” Istanbul police chief Huseyin Capkin told reporters.
Twelve civilians and 10 policemen were wounded in the attack in Taksim Square, Istanbul Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu told reporters.
The blast occurred in mid morning, next to a republic monument celebrating Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, and victory in the war of independence in 1923.
Cell phone footage taken just after the explosion showed a woman lying close to the monument bleeding from her leg, and a policeman also lying with blood streaming from his head.
A taxi driver told CNN Turk news channel he saw a 30 to 33 year-old man approach the police to ask directions, at which point the bomb detonated. Another witness said that two men had approached the police.
CNN-Turk said a second bomb was found close to the dead bomber, but state-run Anatolian news agency said parts of a bomb were found and it was unclear if it was part of the exploded bomb or a second device. Taksim square is a tourist attraction and transport hub, surrounded by restaurants, shops and hotels in Istanbul. REUTERS