Turkish security forces shot and killed an armed female assailant on Wednesday after she and a male accomplice tried to attack the police headquarters in Istanbul, Turkish officials said.
The male accomplice was injured but managed to flee the scene, Turkish media reports said, citing Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin, according to France 24.
“A female terrorist, with a bomb and a gun, was killed in the clash. The other assailant fled and was injured, and one policeman was lightly injured,” Sahin said.
Local media published a photograph showing a red-haired woman lying on the ground with a rifle strapped to her and a handgun by her side. Television footage showed police vehicles sealing off Vatan Street in the central Aksaray neighborhood.
The CNN-Turk and NTV news channels later reported that the wounded male assailant was arrested by police but the reports have not been confirmed by Turkish officials.
The attack comes a day after a top prosecutor was taken hostage at an Istanbul courthouse by members of a banned leftist organization. Prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz and two suspects were killed in that incident.
Security has been high in Turkey over the past few months amid fears of attacks by either Kurdish militants or Islamic State group jihadists, who now control large parts of Iraq and Syria including areas near the Turkish border.
