World

Four detained over Turkish car bomb that killed 11 people

11 people were killed and scores wounded in a car bomb blast in Istanbul, Turkey. Picture by DHA/Associated Press
11 people were killed and scores wounded in a car bomb blast in Istanbul, Turkey. Picture by DHA/Associated Press 11 people were killed and scores wounded in a car bomb blast in Istanbul, Turkey. Picture by DHA/Associated Press

POLICE in Turkey have detained four people in connection with a car bomb attack in Istanbul that killed 11 people, according to the state-run news agency.

The rush hour attack targeted a police vehicle and killed seven police officers and four civilians.

The Anadolu Agency said the four suspects are being questioned at Istanbul's main police headquarters. The private Dogan news agency said the four hired the car used in the bombing.

Speaking at the scene of the blast in the district of Beyazit, Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin said 36 more people were wounded, at least three of them seriously.

The explosion was caused by a bomb placed inside a car and was detonated as the police vehicle was passing by, Mr Sahin said.

The police bus was overturned by the force of the blast which also damaged nearby buildings, including a closed hotel whose entrance appeared gutted and windows were blown out.

The blast shattered windows at a famous 16th-century Ottoman mosque, Sehzadebasi, wrecked several cars and forced cancellation of exams at nearby Istanbul University.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited some of the wounded at Haseki hospital, where two people were undergoing surgery.

"These (attacks) are being carried out against people whose duty it is to ensure the security of our people. These cannot be pardoned or forgiven. We shall continue our fight against terrorists tirelessly until the end," he told reporters outside the hospital.

Foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu condemned the attack, which occurred on the second day of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

"They are cold-heartedly exploding bombs on a Ramadan day," Mr Cavusoglu said in a television interview.

Tuesday's attack was the fourth major bombing in Istanbul this year, two of them targeting tourists and two hitting security forces. The spike in violence has led to a sharp dip in tourism, a mainstay of the economy.

Rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, have targeted police and military personnel since July, when a fragile peace process between the rebels and the government collapsed.

Islamic State has also been blamed for a series of bombings in Turkey, which is part of the US-led coalition against IS.

An estimated 500 Turkish security personnel have been killed in attacks or in conflict with the Kurdish rebels, according to the military, which claims to have killed 4,900 PKK militants in Turkey and northern Iraq. Turkish warplanes regularly raid PKK bases in northern Iraq.