PHOTO: Turkish police amid the helmets of colleagues after Friday night’s bombings


UPDATE 1610 GMT: The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), an offshoot of the Turkish Kurdish insurgency PKK, have claimed responsibility for Saturday’s Istanbul bombings.

The TAK, which has claimed other bombings in Turkey this year, said it attacked because of the ongoing imprisonment of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan and the “fascism” of Turkey’s ruling AKP.


ORIGINAL ENTRY: At least 38 people have been killed and 136 have been wounded by a double bombing in central Istanbul in Turkey.

The explosions — a suspected car bomb and a smaller blast — occurred late Friday near a football stadium, 90 minutes after a match between Turkish sides Beşiktaş and Bursaspor. The target reportedly was a police van.

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said 30 police and seven civilians have been killed, with one victim to be identified.

He added that 13 suspects have been detained.

Health Minister Recep Akdağ said 14 of the wounded are in intensive care.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Both the Islamic State and the Turkish insurgency PKK have carried out recent bombings.

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said on Sunday that initial findings point to the PKK, although the evidence is not conclusive.

Speaking on CNN Türk news channel, Kurtulmuş said that although the investigation has not been concluded yet, findings suggest that the PKK terrorist organization may be involved in the deadly terror attack in Istanbul.

The first explosion was from a moving car that directly targeted riot police, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said. The second attack was by a suicide bomber 45 seconds later in a park across from the stadium.

The moment of the explosion, during a broadcaster by Besiktas’ TV outlet:

The explosions were heard on both sides of the Bosphorus.