ISTANBUL—Turkish police and the U.S. consulate in Istanbul have
been hit in a string of deadly attacks starting early Monday, as
the two North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies deepen their
cooperation against Islamic State and Turkey intensifies its fight
against Kurdish militants.
A police station in the city's Sultanbeyli neighborhood was
struck by a suicide car-bombing at about 1 a.m. local time,
injuring three policemen and seven civilians, the Istanbul Police
Department said in a statement. Less than six hours later, two
assailants and one police officer were killed at a gunfight that
erupted when the station drew fire.
The U.S. consulate in the city's Sariyer neighborhood was
attacked in shortly after the assaults on the police, with two
people opening fire and prompting a clash between the attackers and
police. There were no injuries or deaths, and one of the assailants
has been caught, according to Turkey's state-run Anadolu news
agency.
No one has claimed the attacks on the police station or the U.S.
consulate, which Turkish authorities have blamed on terrorists.
In previous years, Turkey's police stations, government
buildings, political parties and the courthouses have been targeted
by left-wing organizations, while the U.S. consulate in Istanbul
and American embassy in Ankara were hit by both leftists and
Islamist militants. In 2003, al Qaeda struck the U.K. consulate in
Istanbul, a synagogue and local headquarters of banking group HSBC
PLC, killing dozens and injuring hundreds.
Monday's attacks come as Turkey's decision to actively wage a
two-front war against Islamic State and the Kurdistan Workers'
Party, or PKK, is dragging the country deeper in regional conflicts
and sparking violence nationwide.
Mounting security threats at home and abroad are also fueling
uncertainties, as Turkey's politicians grapple to form the
country's first coalition government since 2002.
Ankara agreed in July to open up its air bases to U.S.-led
coalition forces to strike Islamic State, which Turkish authorities
blame for a suicide bombing by the Syrian border that killed 32
civilians. After the strike, Turkish jets joined the effort to oust
Islamic State from its strongholds in Syria, launching their first
strikes against the jihadist militants also known as ISIS or ISIL
after a Turkish soldier was killed in a border clash.
Last week, a U.S. drone carried out its first strike on Islamic
State from the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey's southern province of
Adana as part of a joint effort to clamp down on a porous 70-mile
stretch of the 565-mile Turkish-Syrian border that the jihadist
organization controls. On Sunday, the Pentagon said it deployed six
F-16 fighter jets to Incirlik and an additional 300 military
personnel to step up its attacks on Islamic State.
Ankara and Washington have struck an agreement to clear the
group from the region in a push to establish a safe-zone to help
Western-backed Syrian rebels establish a firmer foothold in the
war-torn country's north.
Meanwhile, Turkish forces also launched a sweeping campaign
against the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by
Ankara, Washington and Brussels, and has been fighting for Kurdish
autonomy in southeast Turkey since 1984. The resumption of
hostilities after a two-year truce all but mark the end of peace
talks to end a conflict that has killed 40,000 people.
In the past three weeks, some 70 security officials and
civilians have been killed in terrorist attacks by Islamic State
and the PKK. Turkey said it killed hundreds of PKK members in
scores of domestic and cross-border strikes, including its
headquarters and camps in the Qandil Mountains of northern Iraq.
Turkish authorities have also launched a nationwide crackdown
against Islamic State, the PKK, as well as some other Islamist and
leftists organizations, detaining more than 1,000 people.
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