An explosion in central Istanbul killed eight people wounded 81; the authorities suspect the involvement of a woman

Istanbul police have arrested 46 people in connection with the explosion in the busy Istiklal Avenue of Turkey’s largest city. At least eight people died in the blast while 81 others suffered injuries. Interior minister Suleyman Soylu revealed that the suspects included the “person who left the bomb that caused the explosion.” The authorities suspect the involvement of a woman. She admitted being trained by Kurdish militants in Syria and had gained entry into Turkey through northwest Syria’s Afrin region. Security sources say two other Syrian nationals were involved in the attack. The police captured the woman, in her late 20s or early 30s, from the place where she was staying. Istanbul police checked the security cameras near the site of the explosion. They have also conducted raids at different addresses where the female suspect had links. Turkish police arrest 46 people over Istanbul explosion.

Kurdish separatists, ISIL (ISIS), and other groups have targeted Istanbul and other Turkish cities in the past. These included a series of attacks in 2015 and 2016. In December 2016, twin bombings outside an Istanbul football stadium killed 38 people and wounded 155. Countries like Azerbaijan, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Pakistan, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States condemned the latest attack. Greece “unequivocally” denounced the blast and expressed condolences, while the US said it stood “shoulder-to-shoulder with our NATO ally in countering terrorism.” French President Emmanuel Macron said - “We share your pain. We stand with you in the fight against terrorism.” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine tweeted - “The pain of the friendly Turkish people is our pain.” European Council President Charles Michel tweeted - “My thoughts are with the victims and their families.”

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Explosion in a street market in Philipines kills at least 12

An explosion at a packed night market in Davao, the home city of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, has killed at least 12 people and wounded dozens more. The cause of the blast was not immediately clear and no agency has taken responsibility for it.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 3 September 2016.

The blast tore through a street market outside the high-end Marco Polo hotel which is a frequent haunt of Duterte but he was, at the time, in the southern city of Davao and hence was not hurt. The locality where the explosion happened was a massage parlour.
Davao is located in Mindanao, a large southern island beset by decades of Muslim insurgency. The region is also home to Abu Sayyaf, a rebel group that has links to Islamic State and is notorious for making tens of millions of dollars from kidnappings. The city of Davao is largely peaceful and Duterte has converted it from a lawless town to a southern commercial hub for call centres apart from offshore business processing services.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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