Turkey: 10 die in suicide blast in Istanbul Sultanahmet district

At least 10 people, most of them foreigners, have been killed in an explosion in a tourist area of Istanbul, Turkish officials say.


They say a Syrian national carried out a suicide bomb attack in the Sultanahmet district, near the city's famous Blue Mosque.

Fifteen people were also wounded, the Istanbul governor's office said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was the "top target for all terrorist groups in the region".

His country, he added, was "fighting against all of them equally".

Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said most of the victims were foreign and that the suicide bomber was a Syrian born in 1988 who had been identified from body parts.

Two of the injured were in a serious condition, he added.

Eyewitness Murat Manaz said: "It was a suicide bomb. I went there and saw it and came back to the hotel. There was chaos. Everybody was running somewhere.

"Policemen did not see this coming. They were distressed but at the same time they were trying to evacuate the area because they said there was a possibility that a second bomb could go off."

The authorities are investigating the type of explosive used, the governor's office said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her government was investigating reports that Germans were among the casualties.

"We are seriously concerned that German citizens could and probably will be among the victims and wounded," she said. "Those affected are members of a German tourist group."

Germany's foreign ministry has on its website (in German) urged German tourists in Istanbul to avoid large crowds and tourist attractions and warned that further violent clashes and "terrorist attacks" were expected across Turkey.

Norway's foreign ministry said a Norwegian man was receiving treatment in hospital.
What is the security situation in Turkey?

Turkey faces myriad security threats and establishing which group is behind this latest attack will be a matter of urgency. The so-called Islamic State (IS) has been blamed for three bombings in Turkey in the past year, including an attack in Ankara that killed more than 100 people. Violence has also soared between Turkish security officials and the PKK Kurdish militants, with a PKK offshoot, the TAK, firing a mortar at Istanbul airport last month. A year ago, a female suicide bomber attacked a police station in the area on behalf of a homegrown far left group.
Who could be behind the latest attack?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed a "suicide bomber of Syrian origin". The conflict in Syria has not only seen the rise of IS but also strengthened the PKK's offshoot in Syria, known as the YPG. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but correspondents point out that IS was similarly silent following previous attacks last year that were widely blamed on the jihadist group.
How is the Turkish government responding?

Last year Turkey agreed to take a more active role in the US-led campaign against IS, carrying out air strikes in Syria. It also allowed US warplanes to strike IS targets from its base in Incirlik and moved to tighten security along its 900km (560 mile) border with Syria. Meanwhile Turkish forces have also been targeting Kurdish militants in northern Iraq. And violence has flared in Turkey's mainly Kurdish south-east, where the Turkish military says it has killed some 600 PKK militants over the past month, according to Anadolou Agency.