Terror group claims Istanbul bombings

An Islamic militant group claimed responsibility for today’s bombings in Istanbul, Turkey, that killed two people and wounded 11.

The Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades said the attacks were the first of a “wave of operations” in European countries and that worse was to come.

“Istanbul is the opening for the bloody war we promised the Europeans,” said the statement posted on an Islamic website known for publishing the messages of militant groups.

The blasts rocked two small Istanbul hotels and a gas plant.

Workers at the Pars hotel in the Laleli district said they received an anonymous call saying there was a bomb in a room only 10 minutes before the explosion killed an Iranian and a Turk.

At the second tourist target, the Star Holiday Hotel in the Sultanahmet area, site of the Ottoman Topkapi Palace, glass and chunks of concrete littered the streets behind the hotel.

“It appears to be a terrorist attack,” Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah.

Police said there were injured at both hotels. Among them were two Dutch tourists, a Ukrainian and two Chinese tourists.