Turkish police killed three gunmen in a firefight outside Israel’s consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday morning with two security officers left severely wounded.
Multiple reports detail events that took place during the brazen daylight attack with video shared showing a police officer pulling out a gun and taking cover as gunshots rang out.
One person was seen covered in blood.
The consulate is located in Istanbul’s Besiktas District and has been closed for at least two years and is likely unstaffed, a member of the local community informed the Jerusalem Post.
The BBC reports the attackers have been identified, according to Turkey’s interior minister – he says one suspect has “ties to an organisation that exploits religion.”
The Israeli foreign ministry says it is examining reports of the shooting and confirms the consulate was not staffed at the time of the incident.
The consulate is in the north of Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, and comes amid heightened tensions around the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, the BBC report notes.
More to come…
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