At least two people killed and several wounded in bomb attack on police bus in the central district of Beyazit

A bomb attack targeting a police vehicle in a central Istanbul district has killed at least two people and left several others wounded.

Emre Rende, a freelance journalist reporting from Istanbul, said their was no official comment from the Governor’s office but according to local media reports at least two people had been killed and 13 others injured in Monday’s attack.

“A police bus was targeted by a remotely detonated car bomb before a second blast believed to have been caused by a gas canister struck,” Rende said.

“The attack happened close the Grand Bazaar so it might have been done to keep tourists away,” he added.

According to the TRT news channel, the bus was passing in the Beyazit district of Istanbul.

Ambulances and fire engines were dispatched to the scene.

Turkey is on high security alert after two deadly attacks in Istanbul this year blamed on Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, and a pair of attacks in Ankara that were claimed by Kurdish separatists and killed dozens.

The two attacks in Ankara were claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) – a splinter group of the better-known outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Source: aljazeera.com