Female attacker shot dead near Instanbul police HQ

By Euronews

Published on 01/04/2015 - 18:51

Turkish police shot dead a woman carrying guns and hand grenades and detained a man as they tried to attack Istanbul’s police headquarters on

Turkish police shot dead a woman carrying guns and hand grenades and detained a man as they tried to attack Istanbul’s police headquarters on Wednesday (April 1), officials and media said, the third attack on an official building in the past two days.

A photograph published by local media showed a red-haired woman lying on the ground with a rifle strapped to her and a handgun by her side. Television footage showed police vehicles sealing off the street in the central Aksaray neighbourhood.

“The Istanbul police headquarters on Vatan street was targeted by rifle fire and a female terrorist was killed in the clash,” the Istanbul governor’s office said in a statement.

The woman was carrying a rifle, two hand grenades and one pistol, it said. Local media said a man had also been detained.

pic via Turkish media: Attack on Istanbul Police HQ, one attacker killed pic.twitter.com/XuKhy3BAyc
— Khalid Khan™ (@khalidkhan787) April 1, 2015

Authorities suspect the two attackers belonged to the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front, a banned left-wing group, according to the Daily Star newspaper.

The attack comes a day after two leftist militants took an Istanbul prosecutor hostage in his office. All three died late on Tuesday after police special forces stormed the building in an effort to release him.