Terrorists Attack US Consulate in Istanbul

The US Consulate building in Istanbul, . (AP/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Two terror attacks have shaken Istanbul, Turkey, over the past 24 hours. 

Two terrorists opened fire on the US consulate building in Istanbul on Monday, setting off a gunfight with police before fleeing the scene, Turkish media reports.

The state-run Anadolu Agency said police later caught one person in connection with the attack, but provided no details. The private Dogan news agency said one of the terrorists — a woman — was injured in the crossfire and captured inside a nearby building where she was hiding. No one else was injured in the onslaught.

Hours earlier, an overnight bomb attack at a police station in Istanbul injured 10 people, including seven police officers, causing a fire that collapsed part of the three-story building. Police said the assailants exploded a car bomb near the station. Unknown terrorists later fired on police who were inspecting the scene of the explosion, sparking another gunfight with the authorities that resulted in the death of two of the assailants.

The attacks occurred during a sharp spike in violence between Turkey’s security forces and rebels of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. Turkey is also taking a more active role against Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists. Last month it conducted aerial strikes against ISIS positions in Syria and agreed to let the US-led coalition use its bases for its fight against ISIS. The move followed a suicide bombing blamed on ISIS, which killed 32 people, and after ISIS terrorists fired at Turkish soldiers from across the border in Syria, killing one soldier.

On Sunday, the US military announced that it had sent a detachment of six F-16 fighter jets to Turkey’s southern Incirlik Air Base to join the fight against ISIS.

Turkey last month carried out a major security sweep, detaining some 1,300 people suspected of links to terror organizations, including the PKK, ISIS and the banned far-left Revolutionary People’s Liberation Army-Front, or DHKP-C.

In 2013, a suicide bombing at the US embassy in Ankara killed a Turkish security guard and injured one other person. The DHKP-C claimed responsibility for the attack.

By: AP and United with Israel

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