11 Aug 2015

Turkey hit by multiple attacks

8:30 am on 11 August 2015

Six members of Turkey's security forces have been killed in a series of attacks, amid rising tension between the government and Kurdish militants.

A Turkish special force police officer, during a series of attacks that targeted members of the sceurity forces.

A Turkish special force police officer, during a series of attacks that targeted members of the sceurity forces. Photo: AFP

In south-eastern Sirnak province, four police officers were killed by a roadside bomb and a soldier died when gunmen fired on a military helicopter.

In Istanbul, a police officer was killed in clashes after a car bombing.

Meanwhile, the city's US consulate was attacked by two assailants. A leftist group said it carried out that attack.

The outlawed Revolutionary People's Liberation Army Front (DHKP-C) made the claim in a statement on its website, which described the US as the "chief enemy of people in the Middle East and in the world".

One of the two women assailants in the attack on the consulate was wounded and detained, and a rifle and other weaponry were seized, Istanbul's governor said in a statement.

The DHKP-C named the detained woman as Hatice Asik.

The group previously claimed a 2013 suicide attack on the US embassy in the capital, Ankara.

The US consulate said in a tweet that it was closed until further notice.

In the other attack in Istanbul, on a police station in the district of Sultanbeyli, a car bomb was detonated killing one attacker and injuring 10 people, including three police officers.

Two suspected militants and a police bomb disposal expert were killed in ensuing clashes. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later attended the policeman's funeral, which was broadcast live on TV.

- BBC

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