Bombers attack masonic lodge in Turkey
Two attackers stormed a Masonic lodge in Istanbul, opening fire with automatic weapons and setting off explosions that killed one person and wounded five.
One of the attackers also died after blowing himself up and the other was seriously injured in the assault last night, which came months after four suicide bombings blamed on al Qaida killed dozens of people in Istanbul.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, said provincial governor Muammer Guler.
“Two assailants shot the guard in his feet and raked the restaurant of the lodge with gunfire, then detonated bombs,” Guler said. And in a graphic description of the surviving attacker’s injuries, he added: “One terrorist and one waiter were killed, the second terrorist is injured with his arm ripped off and his guts spilled out.”
One of the attackers blew himself up before entering the restaurant where about 40 people were dining, Guler said.
“Only those sitting at the front table were injured since the explosion occurred at the entrance of the restaurant.”
Yakup Yildirim, who rushed the scene to help the injured, said survivors told him that one of the attackers chanted: ”Allahu Akbar” (God is great) before he detonated the bomb – indicating the attack was the work of Islamic militants.
“Everyone was panicking, everyone was asking where their friends were,” Yildirim said.
The injured attacker could be seen angrily chanting slogans as he was taken to hospital. He identified himself as Abdullah Islam, but Guler said police was still investigating whether it was his real name.
Another witness, Turabi Guneser, told the private news channel NTV that he heard a series of gunshots before the blasts.
“I was near the window and I heard two shots, which were followed by automatic gunfire,” Guneser said. “Two blasts followed seconds later and smoke covered the air.”
Police cordoned off the area in the residential Kartal district as ambulances and firefighters rushed to the scene.
At least one person was reported to be in a critical condition, doctors said.
Last November, four suicide attacks against two synagogues, the British Consulate and a British bank killed 62 people in Istanbul. Prosecutors indicted 69 people suspected of belonging to a local al Qaida cell.
The Masons, a secretive society that traces its roots to medieval craft associations, are active in Turkey, a predominantly Muslim, but strictly secular, country.
