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Turkey hit by multiple attacks including roadside bomb and police station blast Turkey hit by multiple attacks including roadside bomb and police station blast
(about 1 hour later)
A wave of attacks has hit Turkey, including a roadside bomb and an assault on a military helicopter in Sirnak province in the south-east as well as two incidents in Istanbul. At least eight people have died in a wave of attacks in Turkey, weeks after Ankara launched a crackdown on Islamic State and Kurdish and far-left militants.
Four police officers died after a roadside bomb blast in Sirnak’s Silopi district, while one soldier was killed when Kurdish militants opened fire on a helicopter in Beytussebap district, the military said. At least seven other soldiers were wounded in the attack, which took place as the aircraft took off, security sources told Reuters. The Nato member has been in a heightened state of alert since starting its “synchronised war on terror” last month, including air strikes against Isis fighters in Syria and Kurdistan Workers party (PKK) militants in northern Iraq. It has also rounded up hundreds of suspected militants at home.
In Istanbul, two people opened fire outside the US consulate building, hours after an overnight bomb attack at a police station. No one was hurt in in the consulate incident. Turkish broadcaster NTV reported that a female suspect had been detained. In Istanbul, two women opened fire outside the US consulate building. One suspect was arrested. The Doğan news agency said she was aged 51 and had served prison time for being a suspected member of the far-left Revolutionary People’s Liberation Army-Front (DHKP-C), which is virulently anti-American and listed as a terror organisation by the US and Turkey.
Three police officers and seven civilians were injured in the police station blast in the district of Sultanbeyli, officials said. The Doğan news agency reported that two attackers were killed in an exchange of fire that followed the explosion. One police officer was also killed in the clashes, NTV television said, but this was not officially confirmed. A fire caused part of the three-storey building to collapse. On the other side of the city, a vehicle laden with explosives was used in an attack on a police station, injuring three police officers and seven civilians, police said.
There has been a sharp spike in violence between Turkey’s security forces and rebels of the Kurdistan Workers’ party, or PKK. One of the attackers was killed during the bombing, while two others and a police officer died in a subsequent firefight, the Istanbul governor’s office said. Broadcaster CNN Turk said the officer was a senior member of the bomb squad who had been sent to investigate the attack.
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.
In Turkey’s south-eastern Sirnak province, four police officers were killed when their armoured vehicle was hit by roadside explosives in the town of Silopi.
A soldier was also killed when Kurdish militants opened fire on a military helicopter in a separate attack in Sirnak, the military said in a statement. Security sources said at least seven other soldiers were wounded in the attack, which came as the helicopter took off.
Last month Turkey conducted aerial strikes against Isis positions in Syria and agreed to let the US-led coalition use its bases for its fight against the militants. This followed a suicide bombing blamed on Isis which killed 32 people and after Isis militants fired at Turkish soldiers from across the border in Syria, killing one soldier.
Related: The Guardian view on Turkey’s air strikes against Isis: dangerous territory | EditorialRelated: The Guardian view on Turkey’s air strikes against Isis: dangerous territory | Editorial
The latest attacks also come as Turkey is taking a more active role against Islamic State militants. Last month it conducted aerial strikes against Isis positions in Syria and agreed to let the US-led coalition use its bases for its fight against the militants. This followed a suicide bombing blamed on Isis which killed 32 people and after Isis militants fired at Turkish soldiers from across the border in Syria, killing one soldier. Casting the operations as a war on terrorist groups “without distinction”, it simultaneously launched air strikes on PKK targets in Iraq and in south-eastern Turkey, and has arrested more than 1,300 people suspected of links to Islamist, Kurdish and far-left groups in recent weeks.
On Sunday, the US military announced that a detachment of six F-16 fighter jets had arrived at Turkey’s southern Incirlik air base.On Sunday, the US military announced that a detachment of six F-16 fighter jets had arrived at Turkey’s southern Incirlik air base.
Turkey carried out a major security sweep last month, detaining 1,300 people suspected of links to terror organisations, including the PKK, Isis and the banned Revolutionary People’s Liberation party-front, or DHKP-C.
In 2013, a suicide bombing at the US embassy in the capital, Ankara, killed a Turkish security guard and injured one other person. The DHKP-C claimed responsibility for the attack.
Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report