Istanbul police HQ attack: Officers kill armed woman and arrest male accomplice
The woman was carrying grenades and guns
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Turkish police have killed an armed woman near the main police headquarters in Istanbul and arrested a man, after the pair tried to target the building, according to an official.
In the third attack on an official building in the past two days, the woman carried a rifle, two hand grenades and one pistol, the Istanbul governor's office said in a statement.
Local media said a man had also been detained, Reuters reported.
A policeman received a minor injury as officers dealt with the situation, Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin said, the Press Association reported.
"The Istanbul police headquarters on Vatan street was targeted by rifle fire and a female terrorist was killed in the clash," the Istanbul governor's office said.
It was not immediately clear if a political group had organised the attack.
An image published by local media showed a woman carrying a rifle lying on the ground and a handgun by her side. Video footage showed police using vehicles to close off the street in the Aksaray area of central Istanbul.
Separately, police detained a gunman today who entered a suburban Istanbul office of the ruling AK party and hung from its window a Turkish flag with the emblem of a sword added to it.
Today's incidents comes after two members of the far-left Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) took prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz, 46, hostage in his Istanbul office yesterday.
Police shot and killed the two captors during a rescue operation, and Kiraz later died in hospital following emergency surgery last night.
It was not immediately clear if the attackers were linked, but Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu warned of the risk of "provocations" and attempts to cause chaos ahead of June's national election.
"We are aware that we face an axis of evil and there is an attempt to instigate an atmosphere of chaos ahead of the election," he told reporters, hours before the attack on the Istanbul police headquarters, without identifying who constituted the axis members.
Addressing the attack on Mr Kiraz at a memorial event, Justice Minister Kenan Ipek told a crowd of lawyers and judges that the two members of the extreme leftist Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) had "held a gun to the nation" and attacked "the whole justice system."
Additional reporting by Reuters
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments