oRTouCH
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İzmir was rocked on Tuesday by two consecutive explosions that took place in the same district, leaving one dead and nine injured.
Two bombs placed in the Buca area of the Aegean city of İzmir exploded a few hours apart. The crime scene investigation team inspects the victim’s body after the second explosion. Two bombs placed in the Buca area of the Aegean city of İzmir exploded a few hours apart and claimed the life of one local while wounding several others. Two janitors in the quarter were injured in the first explosion, while Atilla Eraslan, a state lottery dealer, perished in the subsequent blast, which injured seven passers-by. Officials announced that investigations have been launched into the incidents and that tight security measures have been taken in İzmir.
The first explosion occurred around 7:30 a.m. in a garbage bin outside of a shopping mall in the Buca district of Turkey’s third largest city, injuring two street cleaners, the Anatolia news agency reported. Mustafa Özsefik was sweeping the street when he noticed a plastic bag sitting near a shopping mall. A small bomb hidden in the bag exploded as he threw it into a garbage container, wounding him and Metin Fayat, another janitor working for the same company. Özşefik was rushed to Ege University Hospital and underwent surgery. He survived the blast despite serious injuries, but lost his leg and arm. Fayat, who sustained only minor injuries to his leg, was taken to Bozyaka Education and Research Hospital.
Following the first explosion, İzmir was hit by a second blast that took place before noon in the same district. The bomb placed on the rear seat of a motorcycle parked near a carpet store in the Şirinyer neighborhood of Buca district killed state lottery dealer Atilla Eraslan and wounded seven locals. Police teams and security forces flocked to the scene after the blast, and investigations have been launched by the counterterrorism team. Authorities announced that all local security forces were on alert to catch the two suspects identified by witnesses. Police forces have intensified security measures in hopes of preventing a third explosion.
Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül and İzmir Governor Cahit Kıraç cancelled their programs in Urla and traveled to Buca to participate in police investigations. Probes launched into the attacks revealed that both bombs were apparently similar and were plastic explosives. Officials from the police department announced the fact that there were not many structures on the road where the bombs were placed, preventing a possible disaster. Kıraç identified those injured in the second blast as Arif Abay, Cemal Özdemir, Mehmet Oktay Ömer, Fatma Ercan, Nihat Gündoğdu, Muammer Sağır, Rezzan Çetin, Gizem Turan Yılmaz and Batuhan Doldur.
The type of explosives used in the attacks and the fact that the blasts took place a few days after a counterterrorism pact signed between Turkey and Iraq to crack down on terrorist groups in northern Iraq concentrated suspicions on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Following the bloody bomb attacks, locals in İzmir chanted slogans against the PKK terrorist organization.
Reports about possible attacks
Intelligence reports indicate that warnings about possible explosions in various areas were previously issued and that police forces had stepped up security measures in the province. The outlawed PKK terrorists choose metropolitan areas to carry out their bomb attacks with the aim of avenging losses they have suffered in eastern and southeastern cities after the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) recently accelerated operations against them. The warnings issued with regard to possible bomb attacks to be staged by the PKK prompted security forces to action, and police officials and the gendarmerie apprehended several PKK terrorists on the suspicion of organizing bloody attacks in various provinces, in particular Mersin and Diyarbakır. With the counterterrorism operations conducted to crack down on terrorist groups, police forces have prevented several bomb attacks in the country. Security forces found and defused more than 600 kilograms of explosives on Sept. 11 in a minibus parked in in the Kurtuluş district of Ankara. Members of the PKK terrorist organization who aimed to place a bomb along the route of Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül and State Minister Mehmet Aydın’s itinerary prior to the July 22 elections were captured, and several other terrorists were apprehended with considerable amounts of explosives in Buca. :-x
02.10.2007
Two bombs placed in the Buca area of the Aegean city of İzmir exploded a few hours apart. The crime scene investigation team inspects the victim’s body after the second explosion. Two bombs placed in the Buca area of the Aegean city of İzmir exploded a few hours apart and claimed the life of one local while wounding several others. Two janitors in the quarter were injured in the first explosion, while Atilla Eraslan, a state lottery dealer, perished in the subsequent blast, which injured seven passers-by. Officials announced that investigations have been launched into the incidents and that tight security measures have been taken in İzmir.
The first explosion occurred around 7:30 a.m. in a garbage bin outside of a shopping mall in the Buca district of Turkey’s third largest city, injuring two street cleaners, the Anatolia news agency reported. Mustafa Özsefik was sweeping the street when he noticed a plastic bag sitting near a shopping mall. A small bomb hidden in the bag exploded as he threw it into a garbage container, wounding him and Metin Fayat, another janitor working for the same company. Özşefik was rushed to Ege University Hospital and underwent surgery. He survived the blast despite serious injuries, but lost his leg and arm. Fayat, who sustained only minor injuries to his leg, was taken to Bozyaka Education and Research Hospital.
Following the first explosion, İzmir was hit by a second blast that took place before noon in the same district. The bomb placed on the rear seat of a motorcycle parked near a carpet store in the Şirinyer neighborhood of Buca district killed state lottery dealer Atilla Eraslan and wounded seven locals. Police teams and security forces flocked to the scene after the blast, and investigations have been launched by the counterterrorism team. Authorities announced that all local security forces were on alert to catch the two suspects identified by witnesses. Police forces have intensified security measures in hopes of preventing a third explosion.
Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül and İzmir Governor Cahit Kıraç cancelled their programs in Urla and traveled to Buca to participate in police investigations. Probes launched into the attacks revealed that both bombs were apparently similar and were plastic explosives. Officials from the police department announced the fact that there were not many structures on the road where the bombs were placed, preventing a possible disaster. Kıraç identified those injured in the second blast as Arif Abay, Cemal Özdemir, Mehmet Oktay Ömer, Fatma Ercan, Nihat Gündoğdu, Muammer Sağır, Rezzan Çetin, Gizem Turan Yılmaz and Batuhan Doldur.
The type of explosives used in the attacks and the fact that the blasts took place a few days after a counterterrorism pact signed between Turkey and Iraq to crack down on terrorist groups in northern Iraq concentrated suspicions on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Following the bloody bomb attacks, locals in İzmir chanted slogans against the PKK terrorist organization.
Reports about possible attacks
Intelligence reports indicate that warnings about possible explosions in various areas were previously issued and that police forces had stepped up security measures in the province. The outlawed PKK terrorists choose metropolitan areas to carry out their bomb attacks with the aim of avenging losses they have suffered in eastern and southeastern cities after the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) recently accelerated operations against them. The warnings issued with regard to possible bomb attacks to be staged by the PKK prompted security forces to action, and police officials and the gendarmerie apprehended several PKK terrorists on the suspicion of organizing bloody attacks in various provinces, in particular Mersin and Diyarbakır. With the counterterrorism operations conducted to crack down on terrorist groups, police forces have prevented several bomb attacks in the country. Security forces found and defused more than 600 kilograms of explosives on Sept. 11 in a minibus parked in in the Kurtuluş district of Ankara. Members of the PKK terrorist organization who aimed to place a bomb along the route of Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül and State Minister Mehmet Aydın’s itinerary prior to the July 22 elections were captured, and several other terrorists were apprehended with considerable amounts of explosives in Buca. :-x
02.10.2007
