One killed in shooting outside Israeli consulate in Istanbul

One attacker was killed and two others injured after a shootout with police outside the building housing the Israeli consulate in Istanbul.

The shooting near a permanent security checkpoint in the heart of the city’s financial district lasted at least ten minutes. Footage shows one attacker carrying a backpack moving between parked police and security buses while firing an automatic rifle and a pistol. One body was left lying at the scene.

According to Turkish and Israeli authorities, there were no Israeli personnel in the building at the time of the incident. Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi said the attackers had links to an organisation that ‘abuses religion’. Two attackers were brothers who had arrived in Istanbul in a rented car from the city of Izmit.

US Ambassador Tom Barrack described the incident as an attack on the Israeli consulate. Two police officers suffered minor injuries in the shootout.

Armed patrols remain in a wide area around the consulate, which has long been under heightened security.

(reuters, bak)