Istanbul suicide bomber kills two police officers, injures 21

ISTANBUL, Turkey, Sept. 10 — A suicide bomber set off an explosion near a police post in Istanbul's historic Taksim Square on Monday, killing two policemen and injuring 21 people.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.
Istanbul Gov. Erol Cakir said 17 of the injured were police officers. Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said that an Australian tourist was also hurt.
Taksim Square is a popular tourist area near hotels and office buildings. The blast, which also killed the bomber, occurred some 150 yards from the German consulate.
''There was a massive explosion, then suddenly there was a huge cloud of dust,'' said Asim Korkmaz, a grocer who was delivering vegetables to a restaurant some 60 yards away. ''When the dust cleared, I saw a piece of human flesh had landed on the pavement just outside the restaurant.''
Police were trying to defuse another bomb found in the area.
Ambulances and firefighters rushed to the area, and a police helicopter circled overhead. Police used newspapers weighted down with stones to cover scattered body parts.
The windows of several nearby buildings were shattered. There was no apparent damage to the German consulate.
Leftist militants and Kurdish rebels fighting for autonomy in overwhelmingly Kurdish southeastern Turkey have carried out several such attacks in Istanbul and other cities in recent years. Radical Islamic groups are also active in Istanbul.
The last suicide bombing was in January, when a member of a radical Marxist group entered a cafeteria in a police station and detonated bombs strapped to his chest, killing himself and a police officer.
(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Seems like suicide bombing is all the vogue. Do you think there may be a new Olympic category? Marxists, Kurds, Islamic radicals compete for international glory. It's amazing they don't have a suicide bombing daily. Has Turkey been condemned yet for being Nazis because of their repression of Marxists, Kurds, and Muslims/.

1 posted on 09/10/2001 11:19:04 AM PDT by rebdov (Istanbul, suicide bomber)

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