A suspected car bomb blast near Vezneciler metro station in the Beyazıt district of Istanbul killed at least seven police officers and four civilians and injured at least 36 others, Istanbul Governor Vasip Şahin said.
According to Daily Sabah a twelfth person died from their wounds later in the day.
UPDATE — Death toll in Istanbul terror attack rises to 12 after one of the injured victims succumbs to wounds
— DAILY SABAH (@DailySabah) June 7, 2016
The explosion occurred around 8.30am on Tuesday, the second day of Ramadan, as a police bus was passing near the station, Daily Sabah reports.
A number of gunshots were heard after the blast, according to the Anadolu news agency.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Istanbul’s 10th Criminal Court has limited reporting on the incident, ANF reports. The restriction covers news, interviews and critique in print, visual and internet media and social media.
11 killed, 36 wounded in car bomb attack on police vehicle in Istanbul https://t.co/302W1E4r3p pic.twitter.com/Np7bpdmY2h
— Hürriyet Daily News (@HDNER) June 7, 2016
Recent incidents
Turkey has seen a number of high-profile attacks in major cities in recent months.
On March 19, an Islamic State suicide bomber killed four people and injured 36 on Istanbul’s Istiklal Street.
On March 12, a car bomb attack killed 37 people and injured over 100 near a metro station in the Kızılay district of central Ankara. The attack was later claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), a hard-line splinter group of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
On February 17, in an attack in Ankara sharing striking similarities to the June 7 bombing, an explosion as military vehicles passed killed at least 28 people and injured 61. The blast was also claimed by TAK
The PKK has waged a 30-year guerilla war seeking autonomy for the Kurdish-majority region in the country’s southeast. 500 security force personnel and around 4,900 suspected PKK members have died since the breakdown last July of a ceasefire agreement.
Blast hits Istanbul district https://t.co/or6BvDZ5Es pic.twitter.com/Z1JyPj0H3X
— ANADOLU AGENCY (ENG) (@anadoluagency) June 7, 2016
BREAKING — Istanbul Governor Şahin: 7 police officers, 4 civilians killed in Istanbul car-bombing blasthttps://t.co/bZhCMy0BXg#Turkey
— DAILY SABAH (@DailySabah) June 7, 2016
