ANKARA, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler
said on Wednesday that a security guard and two traffic policemen were killed in
a shootout near the police post at the visa entrance of the U.S. Consulate
General in Istanbul, Turkish NTV reported.
Istanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah (4th L using mobile phone) and other security officials inspect the bodies of police officers in front of the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul July 9, 2008.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
Guler told reporters three attackers were also killed
in the shooting.
He said that two police officers were injured in the
shooting, adding "none of them is in life-threatening condition."
One of the police officers was injured in his
shoulder and the other one in his elbow, and both were rushed to nearby
hospitals, said the governor.
The assailants jumped from a white car and opened
fire at the police checkpoint at around 11:00 am local time (0800 GMT), NTV
television reported.
The security forces returned fire, killing three
gunmen and the shootout lasted for about eight minutes, the report said.
Anatolia news agency quoted Kathy Schallow,
spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Ankara as saying that so far there is no
known injury on the part of any American consulate employee from the armed
attack.
"At this point, we have no report that any American
consulate employee was injured in the attack, " Schallow said.
The most recent attack on a foreign mission in Turkey
was in 2003 when al-Qaida militants detonated a car bomb outside the British
consulate in Istanbul, and simultaneously attacked the British HSBC bank.
ANKARA, July 9 (Xinhua) -- An armed attack on Turkish
police outside the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul Wednesday was "an obvious
act of terrorism" aimed at the United States, U.S. Ambassador Ross Wilson to
Turkey told reporters.
The ambassador said, "This was an attack on an American
diplomatic establishment. The persons who lost their lives are Turkish citizens
and we are very sad about that." Full story
