Istanbul court attack: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia condemn

Police shot dead two attackers from a banned “terrorist” group who attacked a security checkpoint outside Istanbul’s central court on Tuesday, Turkish officials said.

According to the news agency AFP, as a result of the attack, one civilian was killed and five people, including police officers, were injured.

In a statement issued by the Foreign Office of Pakistan, the attack in Istanbul has been strongly condemned.

Saudi Arabia has condemned the Istanbul incident and said that the kingdom is against all forms of violence and terrorism.

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the attackers were members of the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party Front (DHKP-C), a left-wing extremist group that has carried out sporadic attacks in Turkey since the 1980s. has been

DHKP-C did not initially claim responsibility.

The group, which the United States considers a terrorist organization, is fighting against American influence in the Middle East and around the world.

In 2014, Washington announced a $3 million reward for the capture of the group’s leaders.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in his televised address, ‘I congratulate our security forces who foiled the treacherous attack with timely action.

“Two terrorists have been killed, one was a woman and the other was a man.”

He said that three policemen and three civilians were injured in the attack, one of whom later lost his life.

A witness told the AFP news agency that the attackers opened fire on police after a brief standoff at a checkpoint on the way to the main entrance of the massive building.

Meher Yildiz, 25, said, ‘The fight started at the outer gate. I saw two people, a man and a woman, shooting at the police. The man was shot first. The woman then fired a few more shots. They shot him too.

‘I heard 20-25 gunshots. There was a lot of panic at that time. We didn’t know which way to go. The police had closed the entrance and exit and gathered everyone inside.

Police sealed off the entrances of the court as a security precaution.

‘Brave Police’

Justice Minister Yilmaz Tanak said that ‘brave police officers stopped the treacherous attack.’

He added that the prosecution had launched a ‘multi-pronged investigation’.

The violent era that started in Turkey a decade ago is coming to an end. Although attacks by militants linked to various arrangements have dropped considerably, Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, are on high alert.

Last month, two gunmen opened fire inside a Catholic church in Istanbul, killing one person.

The responsibility for the attack was claimed by the banned militant group Islamic State.

In October, two attackers wounded two police officers in an attack on a government building in Ankara, which Kurdish militants claimed responsibility for.

In response, Turkey increased its airstrikes on Kurdish positions in Syria and Iraq.

In 2013, the DHKP-C carried out a suicide attack on the US embassy in Ankara, killing a Turkish security guard.