Bomb attack in Istanbul wounds seven: Officials

[1]

A bomb blast at a bus stop in central Istanbul on Thursday left seven people injured including a police officer, officials said.

"A bomb with a medium impact, placed on an electric bike, caused the blast at 08.58 AM (0588 GMT)," Istanbul police chief Huseyin Capkin told reporters at the scene in his televised remarks.

Capkin said no suspects had been identified, but the fact that there was a police school nearby increased suspicions that police were the target of the attack.

The casualties had no life threatening injuries, Istanbul governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu said, Anatolia news agency reported.

The blast broke the windows of four vehicles, including two public buses and a taxi, said an AFP reporter at the scene. The windows of one nearby store were also broken, he added.

A witness told CNN Turk news channel that he saw at least seven people lying on the ground following the blast in central Etiler neighborhood.

Many ambulances, police units and fire engines were sent to the area, according to another TV report.

TV footage showed one woman being carried to an ambulance after the blast. All wounded people were taken for treatment to hospitals, Anatolia said.

The incident occurred at a time when the country is heading towards parliamentary elections in June 12.

Several armed groups — Kurds, Islamists and the extreme left — have committed attacks in Istanbul in the past.

The latest bloody incident in Istanbul came in November, when a radical Kurdish group launched a suicide attack at a police patrol, wounding 32 people.