Gunmen attack US consulate in Istanbul

US Consulate in Istanbul

Two attackers opened fire on the U.S. consulate building in Istanbul on Monday while 10 people were injured in a car bombing at a police station overnight, weeks after Turkey launched what it described as a “synchronised war on terror”.

Police armed with automatic rifles cordoned off streets around the U.S. consulate in the Sariyer district on the European side of the city, following the gun attack there.

Local media reports said two attackers, one man and one woman, fled after police fired back. There were no immediate reports of civilian injuries. Broadcaster NTV said police later detained the female suspect, who was wounded in the gunfire.

Overnight, a vehicle laden with explosives was used in the attack on the police station in the Istanbul district of Sultanbeyli at around 01:00 on Monday (2200GMT on Sunday), injuring three police officers and seven civilians, police said.

Broadcaster CNN Turk said two gunmen and a senior officer from the police bomb squad, who rushed to the scene, were killed in a firefight that continued into Monday morning in the district on the Asian side of the Bosphorus waterway dividing Istanbul.

Turkey has been in a heightened state of alert since it launched what officials described as a “synchronised war on terror” last month, including air strikes against Islamic State fighters in Syria and Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, and the detention of hundreds of suspects at home.

U.S. diplomatic missions have been targeted in Turkey in the past.

The latest attack on the US consulate came on the tail of US strengthening its military base in the country in the war against Islamic State.

On Sunday, the US sent six F-16 jets and about 300 personnel to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, the U.S. military said, after Ankara agreed last month to allow American planes to launch air strikes against Islamic State militants from there.

The Pentagon said in a statement the “small detachment” is from the 31st Fighter Wing based at Aviano Air Base, Italy. Support equipment was also sent but no details were provided.

“The United States and Turkey, as members of the 60-plus nation coalition, are committed to the fight against ISIL in the pursuit of peace and stability in the region,” the statement said, using an acronym for Islamic State.

The ability to fly manned bombing raids out of Incirlik, a major base used by both U.S. and Turkish forces, against targets in nearby Syria could be a big advantage. Such flights have had to fly mainly from the Gulf.

Turkey’s decision last month to allow use of the base follows longtime reluctance by Ankara to become engaged in the fight against Islamist militants.