Turkey has seen armed attacks from a variety of groups over the years
Three policemen and three gunmen have been killed in an armed attack near the US consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul, its governor has said.
Three policemen and three gunmen have been killed in an armed attack near the US consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul, its governor has said.
The identity of the attackers is still unclear, but they are said to have begun shooting at police outside the main entrance at 1100 (0800 GMT).
The identity of the attackers is still unclear, but they are said to have begun shooting at police outside the main entrance at 1100 (0800 GMT).
The ensuing gun battle, which lasted for at least seven minutes, is reported to have left several others injured.
Another policeman and the driver of a police truck were injured in the ensuing gun battle, the governor added.
There are no reports of any injuries to staff working in the consulate itself.
There are no reports of any injuries to staff working in the consulate itself.
After the 11 September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, the consulate was moved from the centre of Istanbul to a hill on the outskirts.
After the 11 September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, the consulate was moved from the centre of Istanbul to a hill on the outskirts in the Istinye district.
It opened in 2003, and has checkpoints and barriers well away from the main building.
It opened in 2003, and has checkpoints and barriers well away from the main building.
In what appeared to be an unrelated incident, three German climbers were kidnapped by members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the eastern Turkish province of Agri on Tuesday, the local governor said.
No identification
Speaking at a news conference after the consulate attack, Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler said one of the police officers had died at the scene. The others died of their wounds later, at a nearby hospital.
Mr Guler said the gunmen were carrying no identification and that he was unwilling to speculate about who they might have been.
One of them approached a policeman while hiding his gun and shot him in the head Yavuz Erkut Yuksel
Television footage showed paramedics carrying out CPR on one person on the ground outside the high-walled complex. Blood could be seen flowing from the head of one of the three other men lying nearby.
A witness, Yavuz Erkut Yuksel, said the attackers had initially emerged from a white car and surprised the police officers guarding the building.
"One of them approached a policeman while hiding his gun and shot him in the head," he told CNN-Turk.
Enis Yilmaz, who was applying for a visa at the consulate, said there had been four attackers, one of whom later escaped in a vehicle.
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Attack at US Istanbul consulate
"Three of them got out of the car and fired at the police. I saw them dead afterwards, lying on the ground and many more dead among the police," he told the Reuters news agency.
The US embassy in Ankara told the Associated Press that it was "co-operating with the police and taking the appropriate measures".
Turkey has seen armed attacks from a variety of groups in recent years, the most deadly of which occurred in November 2003, when 58 people were killed by Islamist militants in suicide bombings outside two synagogues, the British consulate and a British bank in Istanbul.
The PKK has also been blamed for several attacks, including a car bombing that killed six people in the city of Diyarbakir in January.
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