Mortar attack in Istanbul targeted military garrison

PanARMENIAN.Net - A series of explosions ripped through central Istanbul on Thursday but officials would not confirm reports they were caused by mortars targeting a nearby military garrison.



Three people were slightly injured in the explosions outside a municipal building in Istanbul on Thursday. A television report said the blasts were caused by mortars that targeted a military garrison near the municipal building in Uskudar, on Istanbul's Asian side.



One blast occurred in a garbage-collecting truck in the car park of the building, while two others ripped through a neighboring cemetery, Uskudar mayor Mehmet Cakir said.



"Three workers were slightly injured," Istanbul police chief Celalettin Cerrah said at the scene.



He said bomb experts were investigating the incident, but added it was too early to conclude it was an attack against the building, raising also the possibility that waste in the truck might have exploded.



The NTV news channel quoted police sources as saying that four mortars were fired from the cemetery, located behind the municipal building. The channel suggested the intended target was a military garrison several hundred meters away. Witnesses had earlier said that explosives were hurled from behind trees in the cemetery.



Hand grenades or small bombs designed to scare rather than kill are thought to have been used, the CNN Turk news channel said. Two people on a motorbike were seen fleeing the scene, it said. The explosions shattered the windows of the building and damaged vehicles in the car park, AFP reports.