Turkish police investigate the scene of a suspected suicide bombing in Istanbul.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* NEW: A second unexploded bomb was found near the suspected suicide bomber’s body
* Police say two of the injured are in critical condition
* Analysts say the Kurdistan Workers’ Party could be responsible
* A party spokesman says he did not know about the blast
RELATED TOPICS
* Turkey
* Istanbul
* Kurdistan Workers’ Party
Istanbul, Turkey (CNN) — At least 22 people were wounded in an apparent suicide bombing in the center of Istanbul on Sunday, police said.
Ten police officers and 12 civilians were wounded in the attack in Taksim Square, police said.
Two of the wounded police officers are in critical condition, Istanbul Police Chief Huseyin Capkin said.
The bustling square houses a commercial district and a major transportation network that includes buses, metro systems and taxis. Visitors throng the area, which is typically patrolled by lots of officers.
The suicide bomber struck when the city was marking National Day, which celebrates the declaration of independence for the Turkish republic. The parade was originally scheduled for Friday, but was postponed because of the weather.
Capkin said it appeared that a male suicide bomber caused the explosion. A second unexploded bomb was found near the body of the bomber.
The suspected bomber tried to board a police bus parked in the square, but the explosion happened before he could enter, Capkin said.
Analysts familiar with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known as the PKK, told CNN Turk that it is likely PKK was behind the
attack.
But a party spokesman told CNN that he did not know anything about the explosion.
“This blast in Taksim or explosion, I have no idea about it,” PKK spokesman Roj Qandil said.
Qandil said the PKK’s “unilateral cease-fire” was scheduled to end Sunday, but he said party leader Murat Karayilan told a Turkish journalist several days ago that “we are not going to do any actions against civilians anymore.”
BBC – Police say 22 people have been injured in what appears to have been a suicide bomb attack in the centre of Istanbul.
Television pictures from Taksim Square showed body parts lying on the ground.
No group has said it carried out the attack, but a two-month-old ceasefire by Kurdish rebels was due to expire later on Sunday, says the BBC’s Jonathan Head in Istanbul.
Riot police stationed in the square may have been the target, a police spokesman said.
Nine police officers have been injured, some very seriously, he added. Six civilians were also hurt.
A large explosion was heard throughout central Istanbul just after 0900 GMT.
Past attacks
The explosion took place right next to the independence monument on Taksim Square, which is always crowded with people, our correspondent says.
There are usually squads of riot police posted at this part of the square, as it is often the site of demonstrations.
A police spokesman has said he believes they were the target of the explosion, which he said may have been caused by a suicide bomber.
Eyewitness Aris Virkas told the BBC that he was walking through Taksim Square when he heard the blast.
“I turned around and saw policemen with blood on their face and someone lying on the ground,” he said. “People, including police, were running around in panic.
“There was a big bus with maybe 20 police officers: they ran out of the bus, trying to find out what’s going on.
“After a couple of minutes, they started asking people to step back. I think I think I heard a few gunshots afterwards, but I can’t be certain it wasn’t something else.”
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Our correspondent says suspicion is likely to fall on Kurdish separatist factions, or groups linked to al-Qaeda.
The Kurdish separatist PKK party has carried out bomb attacks in Istanbul in the past, as have extreme left-wing and Islamist groups.
Our correspondent says al-Qaeda-linked groups are small but active in Turkey, and police make frequent arrests.
A group with ties to al-Qaeda carried out the bombing of the British consulate in Istanbul in 2003 in which 28 people died.
