Turkey: 16 killed as bombers target town square

Two bombs have exploded minutes apart in a crowded Istanbul square, killing 16 and injuring more than 150 in the deadliest attack against civilians in Turkey in almost five years.

Many people were injured in the second blast after they rushed to the area to help the casualties of the first explosion in the working-class Gungoren neighbourhood, witnesses said. The blasts were about 10 minutes apart.

A statement from Istanbul governor’s office said a total of 154 people were wounded. Of those wounded, 15 were in a critical condition, a government official at the scene said.

“There is no doubt that this is a terror attack,” Istanbul’s governor Muammer Guler said last night. “The fact that there was a crowd in the area has increased the number of casualties.”

CNN-Turk television, citing security sources, said police suspected Kurdish rebels carried out the attack. It said intelligence reports had suggested the rebels were planning a bombing campaign in Turkish cities.

However, officials did not accuse any specific group.

“We know it is a terrorist attack, but which organisation is responsible – we don’t yet have that information,” deputy prime minister Hayati Yazici said.

Kurdish, left-wing and Islamic militants are active in Istanbul and have carried out past bombings in the city. On July 9, gunmen believed to be inspired by al Qaida opened fire on police guarding the US consulate in Istanbul, killing three officers. Three attackers also died in a shootout with police.

Both last night’s blasts were in a square closed to traffic where people congregate at night.

A reporter who arrived at the scene shortly after the explosions saw at least 12 people on the ground. Broken glass, clothing, shop dummies and other debris were strewn on the ground and bomb squads in white overalls were inspecting the scene.

Many of the injured waited for medical treatment, their faces and bodies covered with blood.

Several people who seemed seriously wounded were carried wrapped in blankets to ambulance vehicles waiting outside the site of the blasts.

The first explosion was in a telephone booth,“ said Huseyin Senturk, who owns a shoe shop yards away from where the blasts occurred. ”The second explosion was some 40 yards away.

“The first explosion was not very strong. Several people came to see what was going on. That’s when the second explosion occurred and it injured many onlookers.”

The second explosion could be heard a mile away.

Mr Guler said the bombs were placed in rubbish bins.

Nurettin Kapucu, a doctor at a nearby hospital, said 25 people were being treated there and three of them were in a serious condition.

Kurdish rebels belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, have been fighting for self-rule in south-eastern Turkey since 1984. The violence has killed tens of thousands of people since then.

Turkey has conducted frequent air raids on suspected rebel positions in northern Iraq, including one earlier yesterday. Earlier this year, it launched a week-long ground offensive against the rebels.

Although most of the fighting in concentrated in rural areas of south-eastern Turkey, the rebels occasionally launch bombing campaigns in Turkish cities and tourist resorts.

Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul strongly condemned the bombings.

“No goals can be achieved with violence, killing innocent people and terrorism,” Mr Gul said. “These attacks show how inhumane and miserable the instigators are.”

Yesterday’s attack was the deadliest since a series of al Qaida-linked suicide bombings that targeted two synagogues, the British Consulate and the HSBC bank in Istanbul in 2003. A total of 58 people were killed in those attacks.

Earlier this month, gunmen opened fire on police guarding the US consulate in Istanbul, killing three officers. Three attackers also died in a shootout with police. Police were looking into possible links with al Qaida or whether the gunmen were operating on their own.

In 2006, a bomb targeting police officers blew up at an internet cafe near the riot police headquarters, killing one person and wounded 16 others.

Yesterday’s bombing came a day before the scheduled start of a top court’s deliberations on whether to ban the Islamic-oriented ruling party because of its alleged attempts to undermine secularism.

The legal case has raised political tensions in Turkey, where the government is locked in a power struggle with elements of the secular establishment, which has backing in the military and judiciary.