Istanbul Besiktas Turkey: Stadium Blasts Kill 29 People
Albanian Daily News
Published December 11, 2016
The attack appears to have targeted riot police

A twin bomb attack on police officers outside a football stadium in Turkey's largest city, Istanbul, has killed 29 people and injured 166.

A car bomb hit a police vehicle and a suicide bomber detonated a suicide vest in quick succession late on Saturday. The blasts occurred near the stadium of top-division team Besiktas, two hours after a match. Ten arrests were made. The government says initial findings point towards Kurdish militants, who have targeted police in the past.

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told CNN Turk news channel that "arrows point" to the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK). Two of those killed were civilians and the rest were police officers. Photographs posted on Instagram after the explosion showed helmets strewn on a road and damaged vehicles.

No group has said it was behind the attack but a wave of bombings in Turkey this year has been carried out both by the PKK and so-called Islamic State (IS), says the BBC's Mark Lowen in Istanbul.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the explosions "aimed to maximise casualties".

But they came two hours after the end of the match between top teams Bursaspor at Besiktas at the Vodafone Arena.

Local media reported that fans had already dispersed. Bursaspor posted on Twitter that it knew of no injuries to its supporters.

(Source: BBC)





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