News Daily Spot: Turkey hit by multiple attacks including roadside bomb and police station blast

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Turkey hit by multiple attacks including roadside bomb and police station blast

Source: TheGuardian

A wave of attacks has hit Turkey, including a roadside bomb and an assault on a military helicopter in Sirnak province in the south-east as well as two incidents in Istanbul.
Four police officers died after a roadside bomb blast in Sirnak’s Silopi district, while one soldier was killed when Kurdish militants opened fire on a helicopter in Beytussebap district, the military said. At least seven other soldiers were wounded in the attack, which took place as the aircraft took off, security sources told Reuters.
In Istanbul, two people opened fire outside the US consulate building, hours after an overnight bomb attack at a police station. No one was hurt in in the consulate incident. Turkish broadcaster NTV reported that a female suspect had been detained.
Three police officers and seven civilians were injured in the police station blast in the district of Sultanbeyli, officials said. The Doğan news agency reported that two attackers were killed in an exchange of fire that followed the explosion. One police officer was also killed in the clashes, NTV television said, but this was not officially confirmed. A fire caused part of the three-storey building to collapse.
There has been a sharp spike in violence between Turkey’s security forces and rebels of the Kurdistan Workers’ party, or PKK.
The latest attacks also come as Turkey is taking a more active role against Islamic State militants. Last month it conducted aerial strikes against Isis positions in Syria and agreed to let the US-led coalition use its bases for its fight against the militants. This followed a suicide bombing blamed on Isis which killed 32 people and after Isis militants fired at Turkish soldiers from across the border in Syria, killing one soldier.
On Sunday, the US military announced that a detachment of six F-16 fighter jets had arrived at Turkey’s southern Incirlik air base.
Turkey carried out a major security sweep last month, detaining 1,300 people suspected of links to terror organisations, including the PKK, Isis and the banned Revolutionary People’s Liberation party-front, or DHKP-C.
In 2013, a suicide bombing at the US embassy in the capital, Ankara, killed a Turkish security guard and injured one other person. The DHKP-C claimed responsibility for the attack.
Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report

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