Hot Off The Wires ...
Yahoo News has an AP wire report of a bombing in Turkey:
A bomb blast blew apart a minibus in a Turkish tourist resort late Sunday injuring 21 people including 10 British tourists, the local police chief said.
The explosion was in the popular Mediterranean resort town of Marmaris. There were two other bomb blasts at the same time in garbage cans on the main boulevard in Marmaris, the state-owned Anatolia news agency reported. The area is lined with bars, clubs, cafes and restaurants. There were no reports of injuries in those blasts.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. Kurdish guerrillas have in the past carried out such attacks against tourist resorts.
Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office said that 10 Britons were injured in the explosions, according to a report from the British news agency Press Association.
Police chief Emin Korpe of Mugla province, where Marmaris is located, said 21 people were injured in the blast, including 10 British tourists and 11 Turks, the private Dogan news agency reported. Korpe said one of the injured was in serious condition, but gave no further details.
None of the injured had life-threatening injuries, Anatolia reported. Gov. Temel Kocaklar of Mugla said nine of the injured were released from hospital following treatment, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.
Dogan quoted local Governor Cemalettin Ozdemir as saying that the bomb was placed under a seat in the bus.
"We will capture the culprits and bring them before the public as soon as possible," Kocaklar said.
The Mediterranean coast is extremely popular with millions of European tourists who flock to Turkey during the summer months.
Police immediately boosted security in the area and set up roadblocks outside of the city.
Earlier Sunday, a bomb blast in a low-income neighborhood of Istanbul injured six people, police said.
The explosion in the Bagcilar district occurred near the local governor's office and police said they suspected that Kurdish militants were behind the explosion. One of the injured was reported to be in critical condition.
In 2005, Kurdish guerrillas bombed a minibus in the Aegean resort town of Kusadasi killing five people and injuring 13 others. The dead included a British woman and an Irish teenager.
Turkish officials are looking to radical Kurds as the people who carried out this attack. I'm apt to agree unless there is evidence uncovered between now and tomorrow. This has signs of al Qaeda in it, but al Qaeda looks for a death toll. No one died, and the bombs didn't exact the damage that is usually accompanying an al Qaeda attack. And, as yet, no one's claimed responsibility for this. Al Qaeda is prompt in doing that, but nothing revealed from Turkey yet shows that al Qaeda had a hand in this.
But this does present another problem in Iraq for the new government. They can't afford to get dragged into another conflict. They're still trying to maintain semblance and order in Iraq; a fight with Turkey is the last thing that's needed. The government in Iraq needs to get a grip on the Kurds before they do start a serious shooting war.
Publius II
UPDATE: 3:17 a.m. AZ Time-- From Little Green Footballs:
A reader emails from Turkey:
I live in Turkey, and I have access to some news - someone who lives in the vicinity claims that there were 5 different blasts, not 4. Four people are dead, 1 of them a British woman. However, some news agencies are saying that there were 3 blasts, and they occurred with 45 minutes in between. 21 are hurt, 10 Britons and 11 Turks. The names of the Britons, according to this news source, are ”Alex Bedford, Master Louis and Suzanne Becford, Janet Hughes, Kevin and Jenifer Smith, Master Adam Pond, Katherin Urry, Mart Stringer, Dorothy Huger”.
Drudge still doesn't have this up. The last "update" posted there is the stupid commercial during the Emmys. (Thank God I quit watching this garbage years ago.) I can confirm that the Washington Post, New York Times, Washington Times, and Boston Globe all have picked it up. They're all from the same wire report, except the Globe's. It cites only sixteen people injured in the blast. This is also a "blurb" report. It's a minor report from the AP, and probably the very first word that came off of the wires. Every other source I've found so far has the time this was first reported as 12:47 a.m. EST.
Both the New York Times and the Washington Times have the same story, the beginning of which is below:
A bomb blast blew apart a minibus in a Turkish tourist resort late Sunday injuring 21 people including 10 British tourists, the local police chief said.
The explosion was in the popular Mediterranean resort town of Marmaris. There were two other bomb blasts at the same time in garbage cans on the main boulevard in Marmaris, the state-owned Anatolia news agency reported. The area is lined with bars, clubs, cafes and restaurants. There were no reports of injuries in those blasts.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. Kurdish guerrillas have in the past carried out such attacks against tourist resorts.
The rest of it is virtually the same as the previous report. However, the WaPo has this, and it comes from Reuters:
Four bombs at a popular Turkish coastal resort and in Istanbul wounded at least 27 people, including 10 British tourists, authorities said on Monday.
Ten Britons and six Turks were wounded when their minibus blew up on one of the main streets of Marmaris on the Mediterranean coast. The British Foreign Office said three Britons were in intensive care.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility.
A Marmaris police official, who declined to be named, told Reuters 21 people were injured in the busy tourist town, including 16 people inside the minibus.
Five others were hurt by two other bombs and all three explosions happened within 15 minutes.
"There were three bombs ... Two of them were not important, they were percussion bombs," he said. The outlawed separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was suspected of carrying out the attacks, he added.
The bombs in Marmaris exploded between midnight and 0015 local time (1315 EDT) while the Istanbul blast, which injured six people, took place at 9:30 p.m. local time.
Istanbul police chief Celalettin Cerrah said six people had been injured when a device exploded near a school in the Bagcilar district of Turkey's largest city.
"They left a package on a road against the garden wall... At around 2130 (1430 EDT) it exploded and six citizens were injured," Cerrah told state-run Anatolian news agency.
Marmaris is a resort popular with west European and Russian tourists as well as Turks.
"I can confirm that there were three explosions (in Marmaris) but the (British) injuries all came from the first explosion," said a British embassy spokeswoman in Ankara.
Police explosives experts wearing white suits conducted investigations at the blast sites in Marmaris.
Of the 21 casualties in Marmaris, nine have been discharged from hospital, the local governor told Anatolian.
"With the efforts of our security forces we will capture those behind the blasts as soon as possible and bring them to account," said Governor Temel Kocaklar.
The tourist industry is a powerful motor of the Turkish economy, hoping to attract $20 billion in revenue and 26 million visitors this year.
Kurdish separatists, leftists and Islamic militants have carried out bomb attacks in Turkey in the past.
The blasts came two days after two bombs exploded in the southern Turkish city of Adana, injuring four people.
The PKK, which launched a separatist campaign in 1984, and other militant groups have been blamed or claimed responsibility for similar blasts in the past.
Turkey, like the United States and European Union, considers the PKK a terrorist organization and blames it for the deaths of more than 30,000 people.
The more important point about this is the discrepancy from someone in Turkey who is basically saying the wire report is false, and that the government is possibly covering something up. (Of course it could also be that some in the government are that obtuse.)But if there was a fifth blast, why not admit it. Sort of makes sense, one would think. I'm guessing that what makes this more than just your average terrorist attack. This was a serious one, and it's probable to assume that law enforcement is tearing the place apart to find these guys.
Anbd this continues to look more like a Kurdish operation, and less of an al Qaeda operation. However, there is a distinct possibility that these radicals may have had some contact/possible training from the al Qaeda elements within Iraq. It would serve al Qaeda's goal of trying to destabilize Iraq. What better way to do it than through have a neighbor attack them for terrorist attacks performed by Iraqis?
It's also one of those things that our commanders don't want to see, either. The coalition is in Iraq to deal with the terrorists, not fight Turkey on behalf of Iraq because some people in the North can't keep their dogs on a leash. One thing is certain: This was a serious attack. It lacked a body count, and that's likely due to inexperience. Turkey will do its best to find who did this, and they will face justice, if they don't kill themselves first.
Publius II
Yahoo News has an AP wire report of a bombing in Turkey:
A bomb blast blew apart a minibus in a Turkish tourist resort late Sunday injuring 21 people including 10 British tourists, the local police chief said.
The explosion was in the popular Mediterranean resort town of Marmaris. There were two other bomb blasts at the same time in garbage cans on the main boulevard in Marmaris, the state-owned Anatolia news agency reported. The area is lined with bars, clubs, cafes and restaurants. There were no reports of injuries in those blasts.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. Kurdish guerrillas have in the past carried out such attacks against tourist resorts.
Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office said that 10 Britons were injured in the explosions, according to a report from the British news agency Press Association.
Police chief Emin Korpe of Mugla province, where Marmaris is located, said 21 people were injured in the blast, including 10 British tourists and 11 Turks, the private Dogan news agency reported. Korpe said one of the injured was in serious condition, but gave no further details.
None of the injured had life-threatening injuries, Anatolia reported. Gov. Temel Kocaklar of Mugla said nine of the injured were released from hospital following treatment, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.
Dogan quoted local Governor Cemalettin Ozdemir as saying that the bomb was placed under a seat in the bus.
"We will capture the culprits and bring them before the public as soon as possible," Kocaklar said.
The Mediterranean coast is extremely popular with millions of European tourists who flock to Turkey during the summer months.
Police immediately boosted security in the area and set up roadblocks outside of the city.
Earlier Sunday, a bomb blast in a low-income neighborhood of Istanbul injured six people, police said.
The explosion in the Bagcilar district occurred near the local governor's office and police said they suspected that Kurdish militants were behind the explosion. One of the injured was reported to be in critical condition.
In 2005, Kurdish guerrillas bombed a minibus in the Aegean resort town of Kusadasi killing five people and injuring 13 others. The dead included a British woman and an Irish teenager.
Turkish officials are looking to radical Kurds as the people who carried out this attack. I'm apt to agree unless there is evidence uncovered between now and tomorrow. This has signs of al Qaeda in it, but al Qaeda looks for a death toll. No one died, and the bombs didn't exact the damage that is usually accompanying an al Qaeda attack. And, as yet, no one's claimed responsibility for this. Al Qaeda is prompt in doing that, but nothing revealed from Turkey yet shows that al Qaeda had a hand in this.
But this does present another problem in Iraq for the new government. They can't afford to get dragged into another conflict. They're still trying to maintain semblance and order in Iraq; a fight with Turkey is the last thing that's needed. The government in Iraq needs to get a grip on the Kurds before they do start a serious shooting war.
Publius II
UPDATE: 3:17 a.m. AZ Time-- From Little Green Footballs:
A reader emails from Turkey:
I live in Turkey, and I have access to some news - someone who lives in the vicinity claims that there were 5 different blasts, not 4. Four people are dead, 1 of them a British woman. However, some news agencies are saying that there were 3 blasts, and they occurred with 45 minutes in between. 21 are hurt, 10 Britons and 11 Turks. The names of the Britons, according to this news source, are ”Alex Bedford, Master Louis and Suzanne Becford, Janet Hughes, Kevin and Jenifer Smith, Master Adam Pond, Katherin Urry, Mart Stringer, Dorothy Huger”.
Drudge still doesn't have this up. The last "update" posted there is the stupid commercial during the Emmys. (Thank God I quit watching this garbage years ago.) I can confirm that the Washington Post, New York Times, Washington Times, and Boston Globe all have picked it up. They're all from the same wire report, except the Globe's. It cites only sixteen people injured in the blast. This is also a "blurb" report. It's a minor report from the AP, and probably the very first word that came off of the wires. Every other source I've found so far has the time this was first reported as 12:47 a.m. EST.
Both the New York Times and the Washington Times have the same story, the beginning of which is below:
A bomb blast blew apart a minibus in a Turkish tourist resort late Sunday injuring 21 people including 10 British tourists, the local police chief said.
The explosion was in the popular Mediterranean resort town of Marmaris. There were two other bomb blasts at the same time in garbage cans on the main boulevard in Marmaris, the state-owned Anatolia news agency reported. The area is lined with bars, clubs, cafes and restaurants. There were no reports of injuries in those blasts.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. Kurdish guerrillas have in the past carried out such attacks against tourist resorts.
The rest of it is virtually the same as the previous report. However, the WaPo has this, and it comes from Reuters:
Four bombs at a popular Turkish coastal resort and in Istanbul wounded at least 27 people, including 10 British tourists, authorities said on Monday.
Ten Britons and six Turks were wounded when their minibus blew up on one of the main streets of Marmaris on the Mediterranean coast. The British Foreign Office said three Britons were in intensive care.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility.
A Marmaris police official, who declined to be named, told Reuters 21 people were injured in the busy tourist town, including 16 people inside the minibus.
Five others were hurt by two other bombs and all three explosions happened within 15 minutes.
"There were three bombs ... Two of them were not important, they were percussion bombs," he said. The outlawed separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was suspected of carrying out the attacks, he added.
The bombs in Marmaris exploded between midnight and 0015 local time (1315 EDT) while the Istanbul blast, which injured six people, took place at 9:30 p.m. local time.
Istanbul police chief Celalettin Cerrah said six people had been injured when a device exploded near a school in the Bagcilar district of Turkey's largest city.
"They left a package on a road against the garden wall... At around 2130 (1430 EDT) it exploded and six citizens were injured," Cerrah told state-run Anatolian news agency.
Marmaris is a resort popular with west European and Russian tourists as well as Turks.
"I can confirm that there were three explosions (in Marmaris) but the (British) injuries all came from the first explosion," said a British embassy spokeswoman in Ankara.
Police explosives experts wearing white suits conducted investigations at the blast sites in Marmaris.
Of the 21 casualties in Marmaris, nine have been discharged from hospital, the local governor told Anatolian.
"With the efforts of our security forces we will capture those behind the blasts as soon as possible and bring them to account," said Governor Temel Kocaklar.
The tourist industry is a powerful motor of the Turkish economy, hoping to attract $20 billion in revenue and 26 million visitors this year.
Kurdish separatists, leftists and Islamic militants have carried out bomb attacks in Turkey in the past.
The blasts came two days after two bombs exploded in the southern Turkish city of Adana, injuring four people.
The PKK, which launched a separatist campaign in 1984, and other militant groups have been blamed or claimed responsibility for similar blasts in the past.
Turkey, like the United States and European Union, considers the PKK a terrorist organization and blames it for the deaths of more than 30,000 people.
The more important point about this is the discrepancy from someone in Turkey who is basically saying the wire report is false, and that the government is possibly covering something up. (Of course it could also be that some in the government are that obtuse.)But if there was a fifth blast, why not admit it. Sort of makes sense, one would think. I'm guessing that what makes this more than just your average terrorist attack. This was a serious one, and it's probable to assume that law enforcement is tearing the place apart to find these guys.
Anbd this continues to look more like a Kurdish operation, and less of an al Qaeda operation. However, there is a distinct possibility that these radicals may have had some contact/possible training from the al Qaeda elements within Iraq. It would serve al Qaeda's goal of trying to destabilize Iraq. What better way to do it than through have a neighbor attack them for terrorist attacks performed by Iraqis?
It's also one of those things that our commanders don't want to see, either. The coalition is in Iraq to deal with the terrorists, not fight Turkey on behalf of Iraq because some people in the North can't keep their dogs on a leash. One thing is certain: This was a serious attack. It lacked a body count, and that's likely due to inexperience. Turkey will do its best to find who did this, and they will face justice, if they don't kill themselves first.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 3:17 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home