Police detain suspects of bombing in Istanbul

ISTANBUL

Police have detained two suspected militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers‘ Party (PKK) who were allegedly involved in a recent bomb attack on a police bus in Istanbul that wounded 15 officers and a civilian.

Istanbul Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu told reporters yesterday that five other suspects were also detained during the raids. Mutlu said police seized explosives, detonators, timers and hand grenades during the raids in several neighborhoods of Istanbul.

A remote-control bomb injured 16 people March 1 near the Istanbul provincial office of the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the headquarters of the Independent Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (MÜSİAD) in Beyoğlu’s Sütlüce neighborhood.

The bomb was placed at the scene on a motorbike and was detonated as a police bus passed by on İmrahor Street. The bike was reportedly left in front of a construction site at first, but workers on the site moved it because it was blocking the way.