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The bomb blast was so
powerful it razed the British consulate to the
ground |
2003: British targets bombed in
Istanbul |
England have
At least 27 people have been killed and more than 400 injured in twin
bomb attacks in the Turkish capital, Istanbul.
One of the bombs went off at the British consulate, the other at the
London-based bank, HSBC.
The top British diplomat in the city, Consul-General Roger Short, was
among at least 14 people killed at the consulate .
The British Foreign Office also confirmed that another Briton,
diplomatic staff member Lisa Hallworth, was among those who died.
The Turkish authorities say the attacks were carried out by suicide
bombers, reportedly with links to al-Qaeda.
A man has called the semi-official Anatolia news agency to claim that
al-Qaeda and the Turkish Islamic militant group IBDA-C had jointly carried
out the attacks.
The bomb at the consulate was so big that buildings hundreds of metres
away had their windows blown out.
The multi-storey building which housed the bank headquarters overlooked
a crowded shopping centre, filled with people at the time the bomb went
off.
The capital was thrown into chaos by the blasts. Traffic blocked
ambulances as they tried to reach the wounded, and much of the city's
phone network was cut off.
The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, condemned the attacks, and said
there could be "no holding back" in confronting the "menace" of global
terrorism.
The Foreign Minister, Jack Straw, is already on his way to Istanbul.
The United States has closed its consulate and warned its citizens to
stay away from the area where the bombings took place.
US President George Bush said the bombers had shown "utter contempt"
for human life.
The Turkish Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan, said he would track down
those responsible.
"Turkey will be like a fist [against the culprits]... The best response
for us is to stay calm in the face of terrorism," he told journalists.
The bombs come less than a week after suicide bomb attacks against two
synagogues in Istanbul in which 25 people died.
A group claiming to be linked to al-Qaeda has also claimed
responsibility for those attacks, and warned that new attacks against the
US and its allies are being planned.