Female suicide bomber targets Turkish police station

A female suicide bomber detonated herself at a police station in Istanbul on Tuesday, killing one officer and wounding another, Turkish authorities said.

Areas surrounding the police station were immediately blocked off after the attack. The police station was located at the historic Sultan Ahmed district, home to the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque museums, sites that attract thousands of tourists from the around the world.

Istanbul’s governor told reporters at the scene the woman entered the police station to report a missing wallet before she blew herself up. She spoke with a heavy accent and wore a traditional face veil. Istanbul’s governor Vasip Sahin said.

Her identity remains unknown, and no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davautoglu said he has ordered “the most comprehensive investigation” into whether there was a link to any group.

This attack comes just a week after Turkey’s leftist group Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front, also known as DHKP-C, claimed responsibility for a police attack that took place near the prime minister’s office.

The assailant in the January 1 attack was arrested and no one was killed.

DHKP-C is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

Special forces police officers stand guard at the scene of a bomb blast in Istanbul January 6, 2015. A Turkish police officer died of injuries sustained in an attack by a suicide bomber on a police station in the heart of Istanbul’s historic Sultanahmet district on Tuesday, Turkish media reported. A female assailant entered the police station, across the square from the Aya Sofya museum and Blue Mosque, and blew herself up shortly after 5 p.m. (1500 GMT), the city’s governor said earlier. REUTERS/Osman Orsal