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Istanbul Besiktas: Stadium blasts kill at least 13 people - reports | Istanbul Besiktas: Stadium blasts kill at least 13 people - reports |
(35 minutes later) | |
Two explosions near a football stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, have killed at least 13 people and injured many others, reports say. | |
Turkish officials said the blasts, believed to be a car bomb and a suicide bomb, had targeted police officers. | |
Witnesses heard gunfire after the attack, which happened two hours after fans had left the Besiktas stadium. | |
Turkey has seen a recent spate of militant attacks in major cities that have left dozens of people dead. | Turkey has seen a recent spate of militant attacks in major cities that have left dozens of people dead. |
No group has said it was behind the attack but a wave of bombings in Turkey this year has been carried out by Kurdish militants and so-called Islamic State (IS), the BBC's Turkey correspondent, Mark Lowen, reports. | No group has said it was behind the attack but a wave of bombings in Turkey this year has been carried out by Kurdish militants and so-called Islamic State (IS), the BBC's Turkey correspondent, Mark Lowen, reports. |
The fact that police appear to have been hit will focus suspicion on Kurdish guerrilla groups, who have mainly targeted the security forces, he adds. | The fact that police appear to have been hit will focus suspicion on Kurdish guerrilla groups, who have mainly targeted the security forces, he adds. |
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed fatalities but gave no details. | |
"A terrorist attack has been carried out against our security forces and our citizens," he said. | |
"It has been understood that the explosions after the Besiktas-Bursaspor football game aimed to maximise casualties. As a result of these attacks unfortunately we have martyrs and wounded." | |
Deadly attacks in Turkey this year | Deadly attacks in Turkey this year |
20 August: Bomb attack on wedding party in Gaziantep kills at least 30 people, IS suspected | 20 August: Bomb attack on wedding party in Gaziantep kills at least 30 people, IS suspected |
30 July: 35 Kurdish fighters who try to storm a military base are killed by the Turkish army | 30 July: 35 Kurdish fighters who try to storm a military base are killed by the Turkish army |
29 June: A gun and bomb attack on Ataturk airport in Istanbul kills 41 people, in an attack blamed on IS militants | 29 June: A gun and bomb attack on Ataturk airport in Istanbul kills 41 people, in an attack blamed on IS militants |
13 March: 37 people are killed by Kurdish militants in a suicide car bombing in Ankara | 13 March: 37 people are killed by Kurdish militants in a suicide car bombing in Ankara |
17 February: 28 people die in an attack on a military convoy in Ankara | 17 February: 28 people die in an attack on a military convoy in Ankara |
The blasts came two hours after a football match at the Vodafone Arena between Besiktas and Bursaspor, two of Turkey's top teams, ended. | |
Local media reported that fans had already dispersed. Bursaspor posted on Twitter that none of its groups knew of any injured fans. | |
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said: "It is thought to be a car bomb at a point where our special forces police were located, right after the match at the exit where Bursaspor fans exited, after the fans had left." | |
He later said the second blast, at nearby Macka Park, was believed to be a suicide bomb. | |
TV channel NTV reported that the target of the first attack was a bus carrying riot police. | |
Photographs posted on Instagram after the explosion showed helmets strewn on a road and damaged vehicles. | Photographs posted on Instagram after the explosion showed helmets strewn on a road and damaged vehicles. |
A police helicopter circled overhead and windows in nearby buildings were blown out by the force of the blasts. | A police helicopter circled overhead and windows in nearby buildings were blown out by the force of the blasts. |
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