There have been no claims of responsibility for either attack and it is unclear if they are linked, but the violence comes after Turkey launched a two-pronged “war on terror” that officials say is focused on the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and so-called Islamic State (IS).
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Turkish authorities have been rounding up hundreds of suspected “terrorists”, including people with alleged links to the PKK.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either of the attacks, but U.S. diplomatic missions and police stations have been targeted by far-left groups in Turkey in the past.
According to the governor’s office in Istanbul, one of the women has since been captured. The United States government as designated the group as a terrorist organization.
A representative from the U.S. consulate confirmed that there had been a “security incident” and the building was kept closed to the public for an unspecified period. The successes that an offshoot of the PKK has had in fighting the militants – with U.S. support – and how Syrian Kurds have begun to carve out an autonomous enclave along the Turkish border have unnerved Turkey. He said the consulate would reopen for business today. The building however, was intact and its flag was flying.
Meanwhile, Gulf News Turkey reported, a vehicle filled with explosives was used in an intrusion on a police headquarters, injuring seven civilians and three police officer, said the police.
Two suspected militants and a police bomb disposal expert were killed in ensuing clashes.
The Turkish Air Force launched a new wave of strikes against Kurdish separatists overnight, as the conflict between Turkey and the Kurdish PKK group worsens.
Four police officers were killed and one was seriously wounded in a separate attack in southeast Turkey, Reuters reported.
The mine explosion took place in the Silopi district of Sirnak province bordering Iraq and Syria, the private Dogan news agency said.
Islamic State, Kurdish separatists the PKK, and the radical left group the DHKP-C are all suspected of carrying out attacks. The aircraft are meant to bolster the U.S.-led bombing campaign against the Islamic State group, which has seized large swaths of territory in Syria and neighboring Iraq. Davis said the United States likely will deploy combat search-and-rescue teams to Turkey as a routine contingency force for responding to the downing of an F-16 or other U.S. aircraft in hostile territory.
It named her as Hatice Asik and said she was later arrested and taken to hospital after being shot by police.
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Turkey was on Monday (Aug 10) hit by a slew of deadly attacks, with six members of the security forces killed and the US consulate in Istanbul hit by a gun attack. Both the DHKP-C and the PKK reportedly have “Marxist origins” and have been known to work together in the past.
