What we know so far
- Turkey’s president Erdoğan has blamed a suicide bomber who entered the country through Syria for an attack on a tourist site in Istanbul that killed 10 people and left another 15 wounded.
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Nine of the victims were German according to Turkish officials. In a telephone call Prime minster Ahmet Davutoğlu told the German Chancellor Angela Merkel that most of the victims were German.
- One victim was Peruvian, foreign minister Ana María Sánchez told reporters, though she said the man had not yet been identified. She also said a Peruvian woman was wounded in the attack but in stable condition.
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Merkel said she was very concerned that German citizens were “probably” be among the victims. “International terrorism is once again showing its cruel and inhuman face,” she said.
- Turkey’s deputy prime minister, Numan Kurtulmuş, said the bomber was a 28-year-old man from Syria, though an unconfirmed report claims the bomber came from Saudi Arabia.
- Officials said they believed the attack on the Sultanahmet area was the work of the Islamic State militants. No group has claimed responsibility so far.
- Police sealed off the area near the Blue Mosque. A broadcast ban was also imposed.
- Britain, the US, EU and Nato were condemned the attack. Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, described it as “brutal terrorist attack”, and the American official heading the fight against Isis said the US will “Stand with the people of Turkey in our common fight”.
That’s it for now. There will be more reports and analysis on the Guardian’s Turkey section.
The American special envoy to coordinate the fight against the Islamic State has condemned the Istanbul attack, joining an international chorus.
Strongly condemn suicide attack in heart of #Istanbul and stand with the people of #Turkey in our common fight against #ISIL terrorists.
— Brett McGurk (@brett_mcgurk) January 12, 2016
The suicide bombing in one of Istanbul’s most touristed districts has frightened visitors, AFP reports, with many planning to cut their vacations short.
This is the first time that I’ve been afraid for my life while on holiday,” said French tourist Nathalie Julien.
“I can’t believe this is happening here, in the heart of Istanbul. It’s like you get invited to someone’s house, treated really well and, all of a sudden, get attacked,” she said.
Czech couple Zdenek and Eva, both 60, said they were planning to spend a lazy afternoon in the neighbourhood when they heard the huge blast that sent people screaming and running for cover.
“I came to Istanbul many times before and always thought it was a very safe place, but it seems nowhere is safe anymore,” he said.
Adrienn Martin, a 28-year-old student from Hungary, considered herself lucky to have opted to visit the Grand Bazaar with her boyfriend instead of hanging around Sultanahmet Square, where her hotel is located.
“It’s quite shocking. Two days ago we were sitting at the same spot where the explosion happened,” she said. “It really got my nerves, seeing ambulances around, when I was expecting a memorable day.
“I’m terrified. It could have been us,” she said.
The pair of Peruvians have not yet been identified, Peruvian foreign minister Ana María Sánchez has told reporters. My colleague Sam Jones reports:
María Sánchez told reporters that the man is thought to have been traveling in Turkey and to have registered at a hotel.
The minister said the woman had received medical treatment, adding that her life was no longer in danger.
“We still haven’t established the exact identities of the two,” said Sánchez. “The embassy is doing all the checks. We’ll identify them and then we’ll tell their families.”
Night falls on Istanbul, where emergency personnel and cleaners continue to work in Sultanahment, the historic district bombed earlier today.
One Peruvian killed, one injured
Peru’s foreign ministry has confirmed reports that a Peruvian man was killed in the bombing and a Peruvian woman injured, according to Reuters.
Nine victims were German, according to Turkish officials, and at least 15 people were wounded in all. Prime minister Ahmet Davotoglu said that most of the wounded are foreign.
Updated
Turkish police have detained 16 suspects in Ankara, according to Turkey’s Anadolu Agency news, citing police.
A Turk and 15 Syrians were preparing a high-profile attack, according to police. The Turkish suspect, identified by police as the group’s leader, was seized in a cafe in Tunali Hilmi, a busy shopping street in the capital. Other arrests took place in Polatli, Cubuk and Sincan districts.
Last month, police arrested two suspects accused of plotting a New Year’s Eve attack in Istanbul, and as noted by the Sabah’s Ragıp Soylu (translated by Buzzfeed’s Mike Giglio), raids have been increasing ever since an October bombing killed 103 people.
.@ragipsoylu notes Turkish police have been conducting repeated raids on ISIS suspects across the country. many detailed on his timeline
— Mike Giglio (@mike_giglio) January 12, 2016
The suicide bomber believed responsible for the attack was not on Turkey’s list of suspected militants, and thought to have entered the country recently, deputy prime minister Nman Kurtulmus has said.
Per Reuters, Kurtulmus said thousands of people are being tracked but the suspected bomber was not one of them.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the attack was carried out “by a suicide bomber of Syrian origin”. Prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu said: “We have determined that the perpetrator of the attack is a foreigner who is a member of Daesh,” per AFP’s translation.
Officials earlier said the bomber was a Syrian national born in 1988.
In a news conference in Berlin, German chancellor Angela Merkel said her country would not waver in fighting terrorism. “Today it hit Istanbul, it has hit Paris, it hit Tunisia, it had already hit Ankara,” she said.
So far no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
In a televised broadcast, prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu has blamed Islamic State and reiterated that all the victims foreign, Reuters reports.
Most of the victims were German, Davutoglu said, adding that he had spoken with chancellor Angela Merkel to express condolences. Most of those wounded were also German, he added.
Speaking in Ankara in comment broadcast on television, Davutoglu vowed that Turkey would find those linked to the bomber and punish them and said that its fight against Islamic State would continue.
Updated
Turkey’s prime minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said the bomber was an Isis militant, according to reports.
Davutoğlu: Sultanahmet suicide bomber is ISIL member https://t.co/m6yRfgy6S4 pic.twitter.com/qj3hwXI6uF
— Today's Zaman (@todayszamancom) January 12, 2016
#BREAKING Istanbul suicide bomber was Islamic State member: Turkey PM
— AFP news agency (@AFP) January 12, 2016
What we know so far
Here’s a round up of what we know so far:
- Turkey’s President Erdoğan has blamed a suicide bomber of Syrian origin for an attack on a tourist site in Istanbul that killed 10 people and left another 15 wounded.
-
Nine of the victims were reportedly from Germany according to unconfirmed briefings from Turkish officials. In a telephone call Prime minster Ahmet Davutoğlu told the German Chancellor Angela Merkel that most of the victims were German.
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Merkel said she was very concerned that German citizens were “probably” be among the victims. “International terrorism is once again showing its cruel and inhuman face,” she said.
- Turkey’s deputy prime minister, Numan Kurtulmuş, said the bomber was a 28-year-old man who was born in Syria. But there has been an unconfirmed report the the bomber was from Saudi Arabia.
- Officials said they believed the attack on the Sultanahmet area was the work of the Islamic State militants. No claim of responsibility has been yet been made.
- Police sealed off the area near the Blue mosque. A broadcast ban was also imposed. Images of the aftermath, widely circulated on social media, showed dead bodies and body parts in Sultanahmet Square.
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Britain, the EU and Nato were among those expressing condemnation. Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, described it as “brutal terrorist attack”.
Nato’s general secretary, Jens Stoltenberg, said all Nato members stand united with their fellow member Turkey.
That’s it for now. There will be more reports and analysis on the Guardian’s Turkey section.
Germany has yet to confirm reports that nine of the 10 victims were German. It is also unclear whether the death toll figure of 10 includes the suicide bomber.
Earlier Merkel condemned the attack, according to her spokesman.
“International terrorism is once again showing its cruel and inhuman face today,” Steffen Seibert quoted the chancellor as saying.
Kanzlerin #Merkel zu #Istanbul: Der internat. Terrorismus zeigt sich wieder einmal mit seinem grausamen und menschenverachtenden Gesicht.
— Steffen Seibert (@RegSprecher) January 12, 2016
The Turkish DHA news agency claims the suicide bomber was not a Syrian, but is in fact a Saudi Arabian named Nabil Fadli, writes Kareen Shaheen. It cites security sources for the claim but does not go into details.
Earlier Turkey’s deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmuş said the bomber was a 28-year-old man born in Syria.
Nine victims were German
At least nine of the victims of the Istanbul attack were Germans, according to AP citing a Turkish official.
Earlier in a telephone call, Prime minster Ahmet Davutoğlu told the German Chancellor Angela Merket that most of the victims were German, Today’s Zaman reports.
#UPDATE Davutoğlu talks to Merkel on phone, says most of #İstanbul blast victims German https://t.co/AIL94ASA87 pic.twitter.com/lKIiLhGUTb
— Today's Zaman (@todayszamancom) January 12, 2016
Updated
Today’s suicide bomb attack in Istanbul is the latest in a spate of recent attacks against tourists by Islamic militants in the Middle East and North Africa.
Other attacks targeting tourists:
Egypt 8 January 2016
Two Austrians and a Swede were stabbed in an attack on a hotel in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Hurghada. Two suspected Islamic State militants armed with knives were shot dead in the attack. Earlier in the day Isis claimed responsibility for an attack on a hotel in Cairo in which no one was hurt.
Egypt 31 October 2015
A Russian airliner from Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg was bought down by a bomb over the Sinai desert killing all 224 people on board. Russia’s FSB security service said investigators had concluded from traces of explosives in the wreckage that an improvised bomb had caused the crash. A group linked to Isis claimed responsibility.
Sousse, Tunisia 26 June 2015
An Islamist gunman killed 37 people in an attack on a beach in front of hotels in the Tunisian resort of Sousse. The dead included 30 British, as well as German Belgian and Tunisians tourists attack on
Tunis, Tunisia 18 March 2015
Three terrorists from the Islamic State group stormed the Bardo National Museum, in the capital Tunis killing 21 people and sparking a three-hour siege. Of those killed 19 were tourist including five from Japan, four from Italy, three from France, two from Colombia, and two from Spain.
Merkel: Germans were probably among victims
Chancellor Angela Merkel said German citizens were probably killed in the attack. “We are very concerned that German citizens could be and probably will be among the victims,” she told a news conference.
At a separate news conference German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said: “By now we have to assume that also Germans have been injured in this terror attack.”
He added: “We also can’t exclude that Germans are among the dead.”
Updated
Syrians in Istanbul fear a backlash against them following the Turkish government’s claim that the suicide bomber was a 28-year-old from Syria, writes Ghaith Abdul-Ahad.
Ahmad, a be-speckled engineer from the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo, has been living with his wife in Turkey for two years.
Waiting for a tram at Eminono station south of the scene of the bomb blast he said: “People will be blaming all the Syrians, they don’t know that we have been running away from those same people who are doing the bombing for years.
Ahmad said: “It’s like a nightmare that we can’t wake up form , wherever we go the bombs and war follows us, now turkey our last refuge will be closing its doors.”
His wife added: “It has already closed them”.
A security analyst explains why a member of Islamic State group could have carried out the attack,, writes Constanze Letsch.
“The choice of the location, the targeted nationalities, the way the attack was carried out and the government’s immediate effort to stop the dissemination of any information all point to Isis as the primary suspect,” security analyst Metin Gürcan said.
He said latest suicide attack on Turkish soil would lead to more pressure from the international community to increase Turkish efforts in the fight against Isis, and to prioritise it over their current clash with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK).
“One of the tough questions for Turkey in the coming days is how to allocate security and intelligence capacities to fight more efficiently against Isis-inspired terrorist attacks.”
Gürcan criticised Turkish intelligence networks for their failure to dismantle Isis networks thought to be behind the suicide attacks in Suruç and Ankara last year.
Arguing that Turkey urgently needed to launch a deradicalisation programme to better counter Salafist networks and Salafist-inspired violence in the country, he also said that it was crucial that Isis networks in the country were more clearly labelled as terrorist organisation in legal terms.
“The definition needs to be very clear, and security forces need to be able to conduct more stringent operations against such cells, the tracking and hunting down of sleeper cells needs to be dramatically improved,” he said.
It is not known whether anyone from Britain was caught up in the attack. The foreign office is seeking details from Turkey
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond joined those condemning the attack.
#Istanbul terror bombing shocking. My sympathies are w/ family & friends of the casualties. UK urgently seeking details from Turkish govt
— Philip Hammond (@PHammondMP) January 12, 2016
A spokeswoman added: “We are in touch with the Turkish authorities urgently seeking further information.”
Nato’s general secretary, Jens Stoltenberg, has condemned the attack said all Nato members stand united with their fellow member Turkey.
I strongly condemn the terrorist attack in Istanbul. All NATO Allies stand united in the fight against terrorism. https://t.co/oajulCD0Zp
— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) January 12, 2016
Most of those killed in the explosion are foreigners, according to Turkey’s deputy prime minister, Numan Kurtulmuş, who has also conducted a press conference. Two of the 15 wounded have serious injuries, he added.
He also said that the suspected suicide bomber had been identified from body parts as a Syrian born in 1988.
#UPDATE #Turkish Deputy PM: İstanbul suicide bomber is 28-year-old Syrian https://t.co/8IGscK2vym pic.twitter.com/39RgUqHx53
— Today's Zaman (@todayszamancom) January 12, 2016
Updated
AFP has more from Erdoğan’s speech. It quotes the Turkish president saying:
“I strongly condemn the terror attack which was carried out by a suicide bomber of Syrian origin.
“Unfortunately... there are fatalities, including locals and foreigners. This incident showed again we have to stand together in the face of terror.”
“Turkey’s determined position will not change. We don’t make any difference between the names or abbreviations (of terror groups).”
“The first target of all the terror groups active in this region is Turkey. Because Turkey fights them all with the same determination.”
What we know so far
Here’s a round up of what we know so far:
- Turkey’s President Erdoğan has blamed a suicide bomber of Syrian origin for an attack on a tourist site in Istanbul that killed 10 people and left another 15 wounded.
- Officials said they believed the attack on the Sultanahmet area was the work of the Islamic State militants. No claim of responsibility has been yet been made.
-
Foreign tourists were among those killed and injured according to Erdoğan. Six Germans, one Norwegian and a Peruvian were reported injured in the attack. Germany’s foreign minister said it could not rule out German casualties.
- Police sealed off the area near the Blue mosque. A broadcast ban was also imposed. Images of the aftermath, widely circulated on social media, showed dead bodies and body parts in Sultanahmet Square.
- Prime minister Ahmet Davutoğlu hosted a security meeting in Ankara in the wake of the blast. The ruling party condemned it as “vile” attack.
- The blast has been widely condemned. Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, described it as “brutal terrorist attack”.
Updated
In a typically defiant speech Erdoğan attacked foreign academics and writers, including Noam Chomsky for criticism of his government.
He said: “Pick a side. You are either on the side of the Turkish government, or you’re on the side of the terrorists.”
Updated
Reuters quotes Erdoğan as saying:
“I condemn the terror incident in Istanbul assessed to be an attack by a suicide bomber with Syrian origin. Unfortunately we have 10 dead including foreigners and Turkish nationals... There are also 15 wounded.”
Erdoğan confirms that tourists are among the 10 dead and 15 wounded.
But he said Turkey was the first target of terrorists.
Erdoğan blames Syrian suicide bomber
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is making a live TV address about the attack.
He blamed a suicide bomber of “Syrian-origin,” according to Today’s Zaman.
UPDATE: Erdoğan says "Syrian-origin" suicide bomber behind #Istanbul explosion https://t.co/Vh7YRI5xXD pic.twitter.com/YLJ30Lbzlt
— Today's Zaman (@todayszamancom) January 12, 2016
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German’s foreign ministry said it could not be ruled out that German citizens may have been injured, after reports that six German tourists were hurt in the blast.
A spokesman told Reuters that a crisis unit and the consulate in Istanbul were urgently working with the Turkish authorities.
A tour company official said group from Germany was in the area at the time but said there was no immediate information on whether any of them had been injured.
EU condemens 'terrorist attack'
European leaders have condemned the blast.
Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, described it as “brutal terrorist attack”.
I condemn the brutal terrorist attack in #Istanbul today. My thoughts are with the victims.
— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) January 12, 2016
A joint statement by foreign affairs spokeswoman Federica Mogherini and commissioner Johannes Hahn said:
Turkey has once again been targeted by a terrorist attack, this time on Sultanahmet Square in the heart of Istanbul’s tourist district.
The EU extends sincere condolences to the families of the victims killed in the bomb attack today and wishes a speedy recovery to those injured.
The EU and Turkey stand united against all forms of terrorism. The fight against terrorism was recognised as a priority at the EU-Turkey Summit on 29 November 2015 and we must step up our efforts in this regard in full respect of our obligations under international law, including human rights and humanitarian laws.
Appalled by the attack in #Istanbul . My thoughts are with the victims and their families. We stand united against violence and terror.
— Christos Stylianides (@StylianidesEU) January 12, 2016
Two senior Turkish security officials say there is a “high probability” that Islamic State militants were responsible for the blast, Reuters reports.
There has been no immediate claim of responsibility.
The ruling AKP has condemned the blast.
#UPDATE: AKP spokesperson Ömer Çelik condemns 'vile' #sultanahmet attack https://t.co/LLbwrm3L9c pic.twitter.com/xOvAk94wpi
— Hurriyet Daily News (@HDNER) January 12, 2016
The Hürriyet news site says the security authorities believe an Islamic State-linked suicide bomber was behind the explosion in Sultanahmet.
Authorities are focusing on Isis links because tourists and civilians were targeted in a tourist area, it said.
The UK’s foreign office has urged people in Istanbul to follow the instructions of the local authorities.
In an update to its travel advice on Turkey. It said:
There has been an explosion in the Sultanahmet district of Istanbul on 12 January 2016. If you’re in the affected area you should follow the instructions of the local security authorities.
Eight tourists reported injured
Turkey’s Dogan news agency says at least six Germans, one Norwegian and one Peruvian are among those injured in the explosion.
Yaralılar arasında 6 Alman, 1 Peru ve 1 Norveç vatandaşı var https://t.co/gfFSfXoUoV pic.twitter.com/2NIR8FMqyv
— Radikal (@radikal) January 12, 2016
A spokeswoman for the Norwegian Foreign Ministry in Oslo said the office is working with the embassy in Turkey to check media reports of Norwegian citizens among the wounded.
Seoul’s Foreign Ministry also told reporters via text message that one South Korean had a slight finger injury after the blast.
Updated
PM chairs security meeting
Prime minister Ahmet Davutoğlu is hosting a security meeting in Ankara in the wake of the blast, according to Humyera Pamuk from Reuters.
Security meeting in #Turkey's capital underway with PM Davutoglu & ministers on #Istanbul explosion. Not clear if there'll be a statement.
— Humeyra Pamuk (@humeyra_pamuk) January 12, 2016
Davutoğlu başkanlığında güvenlik toplantısı yapılacak https://t.co/aiIfA7CUfZ pic.twitter.com/9TlPdUs2yW
— imc tv (@imc_televizyonu) January 12, 2016
Turkish officials say a suicide bomber may be responsible for the explosion, AFP reports:
“Terrorist links are suspected,” a Turkish official said, asking not to be named.
Media reports said the authorities were studying the possibility the blast was caused by a suicide bomber but there was no official confirmation.
The explosion was powerful enough to be heard in adjacent neighbourhoods, witnesses told AFP.
“The explosion was so loud, the ground shook. there was a very heavy smell that burned my nose,” a German tourist named Caroline told AFP.
“I started running away with my daughter. We went into a nearby building and stayed there for half an hour. It was really scary,” she added.
Media reports said the blast took place at 0820 GMT around the Obelisk of Theodosius, a monument from ancient Egypt which was re-erected by the Roman Emperor Theodosius and is one of the city’s most eye-catching monuments.
AFP also provides this context for the blast:
Turkey is on alert after 103 people were killed on October 10 when two suicide bombers blew themselves up in a crowd of peace activists in Ankara, the bloodiest attack in the country’s modern history.
That attack was blamed on Islamic State (IS) jihadists, as were two other deadly bombings in the country’s Kurdish-dominated southeast earlier in the year.
Turkish authorities have in recent weeks detained several suspected IS members, with officials saying they were planning attacks in Istanbul.
But Turkey is also waging an all-out assault on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which has staged dozens of deadly attacks against members of the security forces in the southeast.
The PKK launched an insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984, initially fighting for Kurdish independence although now more for greater autonomy and rights for the country’s largest ethnic minority.
The conflict, which has left tens of thousands of people dead, looked like it could be nearing a resolution until an uneasy truce was shattered in July.
A Kurdish splinter group, the Freedom Falcons of Kurdistan (TAK), claimed a mortar attack on Istanbul’s second international airport on December 23 which killed a female cleaner and damaged several planes.
Meanwhile the banned ultra-left Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) has also staged a string of usually small-scale attacks in Istanbul over the last months.
Germany has warned its citizens to avoid crowds outside tourist attractions in Istanbul, but it has not confirmed reports that Germans were among the victims.
Germany’s Foreign Ministry warned on its website that further violent clashes and “terrorist attacks” are expected across Turkey.
It also urged travellers to stay away from demonstrations and gatherings, particularly in large cities.
#ReiseSicherheit #Türkei: Reisenden in #Istanbul wird dringend geraten, Menschenansammlungen vorläufig zu meiden. https://t.co/5oS7DHutO9
— Auswärtiges Amt (@AuswaertigesAmt) January 12, 2016
Ramadan, a jewellery shop owner in his mid twenties, describes hearing the blast which occurred across the street from his shop, writes Ghaith Abdul-Ahad.
He said: “It was a crisp blue morning and we were sitting inside the shop when he heard a big explosion which shook the windows. When we went outside the police were already there blocking the scene.”
He feared the worst for the city tourism trade. “This is really bad, the situation was already bad before this bombing and now this will only make it worse for tourism.”
“I did not loose any friends but all of the people of Istanbul are our friends and it’s very sad to see this happening.”
Tourists from Germany, Norway and East Asia were among those wounded in the blast, according to CNN Turk.
Reports that German tourists were killed have not been confirmed.
This map provides more details of where the explosion is believed to have taken place.
There is lots of speculation about which group may have been responsible for the explosion, but no firm leads.
In its statement, confirming 10 dead and 15 wounded, Istanbul governor’s office said: “Investigations into the cause of the explosion, the type of explosion and perpetrator or perpetrators are underway.”
Turkey has been transit hub for Islamic State militants travelling to Syria to take part in the fighting there, Kareem Shaheen in Beirut points out.
Isis was blamed for a suicide blast in Suruc in the country’s south last summer that killed Kurdish activists. In October, the worst terrorist attack on Turkish soil targeted a peace rally in the capital Ankara, killing over a hundred people.
Security forces are meanwhile battling insurgents from the PKK, a separatist organisation seeking Kurdish autonomy. Dozens have been killed in the battle.
Updated
It seems that the bombing happened close to the German built fountain next to the plaza between the mosques of Hagia Sophia and Sultan Ahmet, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad reports from Istanbul.
The Guardian’s Ghaith Abdul-Ahad in Istanbul saw at least six ambulances crossing the Galata Bridge in the aftermath of the explosion. He writes:
Tram services have been suspended. Shops in the bazaar area are open but there are far fewer people than usual and very few tourist.
Helicopters are hovering over the Sultanahmet area as media gather outside a police cordon.
Broadcast ban
The Turkish government has imposed a broadcast ban on news about the explosion, which appears to be widely flouted.
Buzzfeed’s Mike Giglio notes that such a move is typical in these circumstance and is adding to confusion.
As usual, the Turkish govt has put a broadcast ban on news from the explosion in Istanbul. And as usual, this will multiply the confusion.
— Mike Giglio (@mike_giglio) January 12, 2016
The Guardian’s Kareem Shaheen says the ban will be counter productive.
Really the best way to ensure the global media covers a bombing is to impose a broadcast ban on it.
— Kareem Shaheen (@kshaheen) January 12, 2016
10 killed and 15 wounded
The office of Istanbul governor says 10 people were killed and 15 wounded, according to CNN Turk and agencies.
İstanbul Valiliği: Patlamada 10 kişi öldü, 15 kişi yaralandı https://t.co/C0EYdmeAz6 https://t.co/g5TqhKlFnY
— CNN Türk (@cnnturk) January 12, 2016
#BREAKING | Ten killed, 15 wounded in Istanbul blast, governor's office says pic.twitter.com/11i14x5kFY
— ANADOLU AGENCY (ENG) (@anadoluagency) January 12, 2016
Updated
Nine killed
A Turkish official says nine people have been killed, according to Reuters. He declined to elaborate on the nationalities of the victims.
Graphic images are emerging showing what appear to be at least six dead bodies and body parts on Sultanahmet Square [Warning: very disturbing content].
What we know so far
Welcome to live coverage of the aftermath of an explosion in Istanbul’s tourist area of Sultanahmet.
Details are sketchy but here’s what we know so far:
- Several people were killed and wounded in the blast, according to Turkish television channels including NTV. No exact figure for the casualties has been reported.
- Photographs from Sultanahmet square showed emergency workers gathering around what appered to be dead bodies and body parts.
- The cause of the explosion is not known. No claim of responsibility has yet been made.
- The state-run Anadolu Agency says several police and medics were sent to the area. Police sealed the area, barring people from approaching in case of a second explosion.
- The Sultanahmet neighbourhood is Istanbul’s main sight-seeing area and includes the Topkapi Palace and Blue Mosque. Turkey suffered two major bombing attacks last year.
