Turkey: Suicide attackers cause blast during police raid

ISTANBUL (AP) — One or more suicide bombers blew themselves up during a Turkish police raid Sunday against a suspected Islamic State militant cell in a city near Syrian border, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

At least 10 people, including civilians and police, were wounded in the explosion in Gaziantep city, the private Dogan news agency reported. Two of them were in serious condition.

Anadolu said police received a tip about a group of IS militants hiding in a house in Gaziantep’s Sahinbey district and launched an operation to apprehend them. The militants blew themselves up when they understood that they could not escape, the agency reported.

The report said police launched the operation following a tip the group could be planning an attack on an Alawite cultural association in the city.

Turkey has been rocked by a series of deadly attacks over the past year, carried out by IS or Kurdish militants linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

In August, 54 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up during an outdoor wedding celebration in Gaziantep. Authorities said the attack was the work of the IS group.