(Istanbul, Turkey) Two consecutive explosions in a busy shopping district have killed at least 17 people and wounded more than 150. Fifteen people are hospitalized in critical condition.A newspaper reported on its web site that three teens, aged 16 and 17, were found late on Sunday in the basement of an apartment close to the explosions following a tip from residents.According to Governor Guler, the bombings were not suicide operations, rather explosives were placed in rubbish bins and detonated sequentially. "Damage on the sidewalks and dustbins suggest us that it was a fragment bomb, and we think it was not a plastic explosive,” said Guler.
The paper reported the three claimed they hid in the basement because they were frightened from the explosions. It did not cite sources but Turkish police often leak information to newspapers. Authorities on Monday raised the death toll from the explosions to 17.
The city's governor called it a "terror attack" but officials did not blame any specific group and no one immediately claimed responsibility. A television channel, citing security sources, said police suspect Kurdish rebels may be behind it because intelligence reports had suggested the rebels were planning a bombing campaign in Turkish cities.
"There is no doubt that this is a terror attack," Governor Muammer Guler told reporters.
The first bomb went off in the residential neighbourhood of Gungoren in a busy square closed to traffic where people congregate at night, witnesses said. A number of people rushed over to help the victims when a second, more powerful blast hit close by about 10 minutes after the first.
Many of the casualties were from the second explosion, witnesses said. "The fact that there was a crowd in the area has increased the number of casualties," the governor said.
The bombings, just before 10 PM local time, came on the eve of court proceedings to determine whether to ban the Islamic-oriented ruling party for attempting to undermine secularism.
Also: The Jawa Report
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