Six people killed in attack outside US consulate in Istanbul

Istanbul, July 9 : Three Turkish policemen and three gunmen were killed outside US consulate in Istanbul today, when three assailants opened fire at the police checkpoint after jumping from a white car around 11:00 a.m.

The security forces killed the assailants and recovered guns and rifles from them, provincial Governor Muammer Guler said.

The police checkpoint is outside the high-walled US consulate in Istinye District where the assailants attacked.

One policeman died on the spot, while two others succumbed to their injuries in hospital. Another policeman and the civilian driver of a police truck were injured.

No consulate personnel were injured, the spokeswoman of the US Embassy in Ankara, Kathy Schallow, said.

The shootout lasted about eight minutes. The white car, driven by a fourth accomplice, drove off after the attack.

The consulate was moved to the present location in 2003 as foreign missions across the world enhanced security measures following the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York.

The most recent attack on a foreign mission in Turkey was in 2003 when al-Qaida militants detonated a car bomb outside the British consulate in Istanbul.

ANI