Police officer confirmed dead in Istanbul blast
A police officer has been killed and seven other people wounded after a suicide bomber threw a hand grenade and blew himself up at a police station in Turkey, authorities said.
Ambulances raced to the scene of the blast in an Istanbul suburb after the attack. Forensic investigators then moved in, searching the area in front of the building for evidence.
The city’s police chief said the bomber was a 25-year-old man.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Fighting between Turkish forces and Kurdish rebels who seek self-rule has surged in recent months.
The military announced on Monday that it had conducted air strikes over the past week in northern Iraq, where Kurdish rebels have bases. Some 25 rebels were killed in the operation, according to the military.
Authorities blamed the rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party for a bomb last month that killed nine people near a police station in a city close to the Syrian border.
Rebels denied involvement, though they have escalated attacks in what some analysts believe is an attempt to capitalise on regional uncertainty surrounding the civil war in Syria.
