At least 26 people were killed and more than 400 injured in two massive explosions in Istanbul on Thursday, one badly damaging the HSBC bank headquarters and the other hitting the British consulate.
The explosion outside the HSBC building was large enough to destroy windows in buildings hundreds of metres away leading to the initial belief that there were as many as five explosions.
A high wall at the British consulate was destroyed and nearby buildings badly damaged.
Turkish television reported that British consul general Roger Short had been killed. He had arrived at the consulate just before the explosion.
The Anadolu news agency quoted police sources as saying that both attacks were carried out by suicide bombers driving panel vans packed with explosives.
The agency also said an unidentified man had claimed responsibility for the attacks on behalf of al-Qaeda and the Turkish fundamentalist group the Islamic Great East Raiders-Front.
Men and women, some injured, some just shocked, sat on the streets near the explosion scenes while police moved in to try to clear the areas. Hospitals were swamped as hundreds of people arrived by ambulance, taxi or private car.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in London said the attacks bear all the hallmarks of al-Qaeda and their allies.
Government spokesperson Cemil Cicek told reporters that the explosions were a “cold-blooded attack” and that a special coordination centre had been established to find those responsible.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul in Stockholm was quoted by Anadolu as saying Turkey would not be cowered by terror.
The almost simultaneous explosions on Thursday morning bore a remarkable similarity to bomb attacks on two Istanbul synagogues on Saturday. More than two dozen people died in those attacks and hundreds of people were injured when suicide bombers detonated panel vans packed with explosives outside the synagogues.
“It looks like the same group that performed the Saturday attacks,” Cicek told reporters.
An international group with links to al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for those attacks and the Turkish authorities have identified the bombers as being Turkish nationals who had received training in Pakistan and Iran.
The Istanbul Stock Exchange was closed soon after news of the attacks but not before the main index dropped by 7,37% in panic selling. — Sapa-DPA
Pools of blood and wrecked cars
Turkey blasts: Claims of al-Qaeda