Militants kill 6 Turkey forces, attack US consulate

Six members of the Turkish security forces were killed and the US consulate in Istanbul hit by a gun attack in a day of violence yesterday on Kurdish and Marxist radicals as the government pressed on its air campaign against militants, reports AFP. The authorities blamed the violence on Kurdish and Marxist radicals, as Ankara presses a two-pronged “anti-terror” offensive against Islamic State (IS) jihadists and Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants following a wave of attacks in the country.
The attacks raised new concerns about security throughout Turkey in an escalating cycle of violence that has left a 2013 ceasefire agreed by the PKK in tatters. Four Turkish police officers were killed in a roadside bomb attack, blamed on Kurdish militants, in the southeastern Silopi district of Sirnak province bordering Iraq and Syria, the official Anatolia news agency said.
A Turkish soldier was killed in a separate incident when Kurdish militants attacked a military helicopter with rocket launchers in Sirnak’s Beytussebap district, the army said.
In Istanbul, a suspected suicide bomber detonated a vehicle packed with explosives at a police station in the Sultanbeyli district just after midnight, wounding ten people, three of them police, the governor’s office said in a statement.
Clashes with police continued throughout the night. Beyazit Ceken, head of the police bomb disposal department, was wounded in the clashes and died of his injuries in hospital, the governor’s office said.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later joined mourners at his funeral in Istanbul broadcast live on television. Two militants were killed in the clashes as well as the suicide bomber, the governor’s office added.
Meanwhile, two armed women early Monday launched a gun attack against the well-fortified US consulate on the outskirts of Istanbul.
One of the two attackers was later arrested after being wounded in clashes with police.

Militants kill 6 Turkey forces, attack US consulate

Six members of the Turkish security forces were killed and the US consulate in Istanbul hit by a gun attack in a day of violence yesterday on Kurdish and Marxist radicals as the government pressed on its air campaign against militants, reports AFP. The authorities blamed the violence on Kurdish and Marxist radicals, as Ankara presses a two-pronged anti-terror offensive against Islamic State (IS) jihadists and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants following a wave of attacks in the country. The attacks raised new concerns about security throughout Turkey in an escalating cycle of violence that has left a 2013 ceasefire agreed by the PKK in tatters. Four Turkish police officers were killed in a roadside bomb attack, blamed on Kurdish militants, in the southeastern Silopi district of Sirnak province bordering Iraq and Syria, the official Anatolia news agency said. A Turkish soldier was killed in a separate incident when Kurdish militants attacked a military helicopter with rocket launchers in Sirnaks Beytussebap district, the army said. In Istanbul, a suspected suicide bomber detonated a vehicle packed with explosives at a police station in the Sultanbeyli district just after midnight, wounding ten people, three of them police, the governors office said in a statement. Clashes with police continued throughout the night. Beyazit Ceken, head of the police bomb disposal department, was wounded in the clashes and died of his injuries in hospital, the governors office said. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later joined mourners at his funeral in Istanbul broadcast live on television. Two militants were killed in the clashes as well as the suicide bomber, the governors office added. Meanwhile, two armed women early Monday launched a gun attack against the well-fortified US consulate on the outskirts of Istanbul. One of the two attackers was later arrested after being wounded in clashes with police.