Three die in ‘terrorist’ attack outside Istanbul court

ISTANBUL: Turkish police on Tuesday shot dead two assailants from a leftist organisation, branded “terrorists” by authorities, who attacked a security checkpoint outside Istanbul’s main court, killing one person and injuring five, officials said.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the assailants were members of the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) — a fringe leftist group that has staged periodic attacks in Turkey since the 1980s.

The DHKP-C issued no initial claim of responsibility.

The group, which is considered a terrorist organisation by the United States, has been fighting US influence in the Middle East and across the world.

In 2014, Washington offered a $3 million reward for the capture of the group’s leaders.

“I congratulate our security forces, who eliminated the treacherous attack with timely intervention,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in televised remarks.

“Two terrorists, one a woman and the other a man, were neutralised.”