Attack on US Consulate in Constantinople

The BBC has reported that Turkish police are securing a perimeter around the consulate in the Sariyer district where two assailants launched their attack. The identities of the shooters and motive of the assault are as yet unconfirmed. 

Local media said the attackers were one man and one woman who escaped after police returned fire. Turkish television station  NTV said police detained the female suspect, who was wounded in the gunfire.

The Cihan news agency reported at least three attackers were killed while 10 people, five of them police officers, were injured in the bombed attack at 1 am  on the Fatih Police Center in Sultanbeyligi District, on the Asian side of Istanbul. 

Early reports from Cihan said a gun-battle erupted soon after the explosion during which two terrorists were killed. Police forces and fire brigade teams were deployed to the explosion site, in which much of the top of the police station was reportedly destroyed. 

Witnesses said there was a huge explosion followed by a large fire. Police helicopters were hovering over the bomb site by mid-morning and investigation has been launched, according to the Cihan report. 

Security has been tight in Turkey since it joined the fight against the Islamic State, or ISIS, last month. Ankara's measures have included airstrikes against ISIS fighters in Syria as well as Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, namely the Kurdistan Worker's Pary (PKK).