Three people were killed and at least 10 others were wounded in a suicide bombing at a police station in Istanbul and a shootout at the U.S. Consulate in the city, both in the wee hours of Monday.
The explosion ripped through the police station at about 1 am in the Sultanbeyli neighborhood in Istanbul, wounding three police officers and seven civilians, officials confirmed. One of the police officers is in critical condition. There is no information as yet about the deceased.
A nearby three-story building was also badly damaged and threatened to collapse. Other buildings in the area and approximately 20 vehicles were also damaged in the blast.
Just a few hours later, two attackers, a man and woman, opened fire outside the U.S. Consulate building in the Sariyer district. They both fled when police returned fire, according to CNN Turk.
No casualties were reported in the shootout, the Cihan news agency reported. The two attackers managed to escape, according to the Dogan news agency.
However, a female suspect was arrested following the attack, Turkish broadcaster NTV reported.
Turkey has been in a state of high alert since launching a “synchronized war on terror” last month. The nation’s armed forces have been carrying out air strikes on two fronts — against Da’esh (ISIS) terrorists in Syria and against Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq — while also detaining hundreds of terrorists from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, also known as the PKK terror organization, based in southeastern Turkey.
No group has taken responsibility for either attack on Monday thus far.
