The White House says two Americans were among those killed in a suicide attack in Istanbul. Five injured Israelis were flown home for treatment on Saturday night, Israel’s emergency services said. The Turkish government also blamed IS for that attack.
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North Atlantic Treaty Organisation chief Jens Stoltenberg described it as “another terrorist outrage against innocent civilians”, while the U.S. State Department said it was the latest “indefensible violence targeting innocent people throughout Turkey”. “We mourn with families of the lost, and we wish the injured a speedy recovery”.
The suspected suicide bomber is also believed to have been killed.
Rejecting rumours of attacks elsewhere in Istanbul, the governor said security agencies are investigating into the suicide bombing. Several foreigners were among 36 people wounded, according to the health ministry.
A group of Iranian tourists were also among the victims.
Tens of thousands of Israelis visit nearby Turkey each year despite strained diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Three Israelis – two with Israeli-US nationality – and an Iranian died in the attack.
An MDA ambulance plane would leave for Istanbul in next hour, he said.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement that he condemned the terrorist attack in Istanbul. No known terror group such as the Islamic State or Kurdish militants has claimed responsibility for the blast.
“No centre of terrorism will reach its aim with such monstrous attacks”, Mr Davutoglu said in a written statement. “Our struggle will continue with the same resolution and determination until terrorism ends completely”.
Interior Minister Ala said authorities had put 200,000 members of the police and gendarmerie on duty, some of whom would set up checkpoints.
Turkish officials told Reuters the bomber may have been aiming for a more crowded area. Seven of those injured are reportedly in critical condition.
She said: “Massive bomb blast outside our hotel, I’m OK, very shaken, people dead, terrible scenes”.
Tourists leave olive branches at the explosion site in Istanbul, Sunday, March 20, 2016. One of those attacks killed more than 100 people in the capital at a Kurdish peace rally in October.
A suicide attacker detonated a bomb on Istanbul’s main pedestrian shopping street outside a local government office on Saturday morning, the sixth such attack in the country over the past year. Private NTV television said the explosion occurred outside a shopping mall.
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There was no immediate claim of responsibility but suspicion has focused on the Islamic State group and Kurdish militants.
