Istanbul: A blast of unknown nature ripped through the crowded Istiklal Avenue in central Istanbul on Sunday. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said six people are dead and 53 have been injured in the "attack". He called it a "bomb attack." However, the cause of the explosion is not yet clear.
He added that relevant units are working to find the perpetrators. Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu asked people to assist police and health teams to avoid fear and panic. İstiklal Avenue is one of the most iconic and historic spots in the city. Videos of the incident showed several people lying on the ground. The blast occurred at 4.20 pm local time.
Murat Aslan, a security analyst, told Al Jazeera that the attack took place in a civilian area with maximum security precautions. "The police in general is on the highest level in this area. If you have a bag and look like a suspected individual, police may stop you as there are many police officers around there. But if there is no clue that you are a terrorist. Nobody will stop you, because this is a civilian street, and police would not stop everybody and check their bags. It is clear. There are a lot of security cameras in the area. I think the police will identify exactly who did this and how he or she did this if it is a terror attack," said the expert.
No group has claimed responsibility for the incident yet. "These kinds of attacks have been perpetrated by mainly two organisations in the past: the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, and ISIL (ISIS)," wrote Al Jazeera.