Death toll in Istanbul car bomb attack rises to 12
ISTANBUL
AFP photo
The death toll in a car bomb attack in the Vezneciler neighborhood of Istanbul has risen to 12, after a civilian who was heavily wounded succumbed to his injuries in hospital nine days after the attack.Levent Yeşilot, 51, succumbed to his injuries at the Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine Hospital’s intensive care unit on June 15. Police could not reach Yeşilot’s relatives after the attack.
The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), a group linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and which has carried out several attacks on civilians and security forces, claimed the attack, which also killed six police officers on June 7 when suicide bomber Eylem Yaşa detonated a bomb-laden car targeting a police vehicle which was heading toward Istanbul University for regular duty.
Meanwhile, two members of the municipal council from the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) were detained over a car bomb attack in the Ergani district of the southeastern province of Diyarbakır on June 16.
Police detained two members identified as A.S.B. and M.N.P. during operations conducted in the district as a part of an investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. The two suspects were later transferred to Istanbul.