Six killed at US Istanbul mission

MEN armed with pistols and shotguns attacked a police guard post outside the US consulate in Istanbul, sparking a gunbattle that left three attackers and three officers dead.

Turkish and US officials called the shooting a terrorist attack. The US ambassador to Turkey and Turkey’s foreign ministry said security around all American diplomatic missions in Turkey had been increased.

Yavuz Erkut Yuksel, a bystander, told CNN-Turk television that the attackers emerged from a vehicle and surprised the guard.

“One of them approached a policeman while hiding his gun and shot him in the head,” Yuksel said.

Footage from a security camera at the site showed four armed and bearded men emerging from a car and killing a traffic policeman, then running toward a guard post as other policemen fired back, the Dogan news agency reported.

The shootout caused panic and scattered people who were waiting for visas. US security personnel went inside the compound because they are not authorised to engage in armed action on Turkish soil, Dogan said.

At least two of the attackers were Turkish. Police said they were pursuing a fourth attacker who escaped in a car after the attack outside the high-walled consulate compound.

“There is no claim of responsibility so far,” Interior Minister Besir Atalay said.

Atalay said the police would not reveal the identities of the attackers and their possible affiliations for the sake of the investigation.