A suicide bomb blast in the centre of Istanbul on Sunday
injured 32 people, including 15 policemen.
Police say the bomber tried to board a police bus in
Taksim Square. Seventeen civilians were also hurt.
No group has said it carried out the attack, but a
two-month-old ceasefire by Kurdish rebels was due to expire later on Sunday,
says the BBC’s Jonathan Head in Istanbul.
Police identified other bombs nearby and have been
working to disable them.
A large explosion was heard throughout central Istanbul
just after 0900 GMT.
The explosion took place right next to the independence
monument on Taksim Square, which is always crowded with people, our
correspondent says.
A police spokesman has said he believes they were the
target of the explosion, which he said may have been caused by a suicide
bomber. Television pictures from Taksim Square showed body parts lying on the
ground.
Eyewitness Aris Virkas told the BBC that he was walking
through Taksim Square when he heard the blast.
“I turned around and saw policemen with blood on
their face and someone lying on the ground,” he said. “People,
including police, were running around in panic.
“There was a big bus with maybe 20 police officers:
they ran out of the bus, trying to find out what’s going on.
“After a couple of minutes, they started asking
people to step back.”
Our correspondent says suspicion is likely to fall on
Kurdish separatist factions, or groups linked to al-Qaeda.
“Those who threaten Turkey’s peace, security and
development will not be tolerated,” said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan on Sunday.
Mr Erdogan was in Mardin in south-eastern Turkey where
most of the Kurdish minority live.
The Kurdish separatist PKK party has carried out bomb
attacks in Istanbul in the past, as have extreme left-wing and Islamist groups.
The PKK went on ceasefire two months ago but that is due
to run out on Sunday night.
However, PKK leaders have said recently that they will no
longer target civilians.
Our correspondent says al-Qaeda-linked groups are small
but active in Turkey, and police make frequent arrests. More than 100 suspected
al-Qaeda militants have been arrested so far this year.
A group with ties to al-Qaeda carried out the bombing of
the British consulate in Istanbul in 2003 in which 28 people died.
Related Videos
