|
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 theconsulate.
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.