January 05, 2017•Update: January 06, 2017
IZMIR, Turkey
A police officer and an officer of the court were martyred in a terrorist attack near the main courthouse in Turkey's western coastal city of Izmir, local governor said Thursday.
Responding to journalists' questions after visiting the scene, Izmir Governor Erol Ayyildiz said the PKK terrorist organization was thought to be behind the attack according to initial findings.
"The evaluation has been made based on [type of] the attack and the identification of the terrorists," he said.
Ayyildiz said that an armed clash took place between the terrorists and the security forces when police officers wanted to stop a suspicious vehicle at the checkpoint in front of the courthouse.
"In the ensuing clash after the terrorists detonated a car-bomb as they tried to escape, unfortunately a police officer and a court staff were martyred. There are also five wounded citizens including three police officers," the governor said.
The injured were rushed to nearby hospitals. Police took security measures in the area.
Ayyildiz said two terrorists were killed and a third one is at large, adding that one more suspicious car believed to belong to the terrorists has been defused by the police.
He also said the police have also seized two Kalashnikovs and 8 hand grenades.
Two suspects were also detained in Izmir in connection with the terror blast, according to the security sources who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media.
Turkey's Radio and Television Supreme Council imposed a temporary ban on live broadcasting from the scene.
