6 Jan 2015

Istanbul suicide attack kills police officer

A female suicide bomber blows herself up in a police station in the Turkish city of Istanbul, killing one police officer, Turkish media reports.

Police officer standing guard in Istanbul, Turkey (Getty)

The attack took place on Tuesday in Istanbul’s historic Sultanahmet district. The city’s governor Vasip Sahin said two officers were injured in the attack, one of them “seriously”. Turkish media reported the officer had died from the injuries.

Mr Sahinadded added that the woman spoke English after entering the polcie station, but her nationality and identity are unknown.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the attack comes less than a week after far-left group DHKP-C said it was behind a grenade attack on police near the prime minister’s office in Istanbul.

The DHKP-C (Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front) was also behind a suicide bombing at the US embassy last year as well as attacks on Turkish police stations.

Police have sealed off the street where the attack happened.