Turkish police shot dead two attackers and were searching for a third after a car bomb exploded outside a courthouse in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir on Thursday, wounding at least 10 people, state media and local officials said.
The blast was caused by a car bomb, Izmir municipality secretary general Bugra Gokce told broadcaster CNN Turk.
A security source told Reuters police had shot dead two attackers following the blast, and the state-run Anadolu news agency said they were searching for a third. Hospital sources said ten people had been brought in wounded.
The bombing comes less than a week after a gunman shot dead 39 people at a nightclub in Istanbul on New Year’s Day in an attack claimed by Islamic State. The gunman is still at large.
| People holding a Turkish flag gather near the scene after an explosion outside the courthouse in Izmir |
Police detained 20 suspected Islamic State militants thought to be of Central Asian and North African origin in Izmir on Wednesday, in raids Turkish media said were linked to the Istanbul nightclub attack.
Turkey faces multiple security threats. It has been hit by a series of bombings over the past 18 months, some of them blamed on Islamic State, others on Kurdish militants.