Turkey's opposition leader attacked at funeral for soldier in Ankara

Turkey's main opposition leader was punched and kicked by members of a crowd in the capital Ankara on Sunday after attending a funeral for a soldier killed fighting Kurdish militants. 

The official Anadolu news agency reported that police and security teams took Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP), to a nearby house which was then besieged by the crowd.

He was later removed in an armoured vehicle. 

Video of the incident on social media showed a mob, who had protested his presence, pushing and shoving around Kilicdaroglu as he made his way through the crowd.

His party confirmed the attack but it was not immediately clear if he had been injured.

The Ankara governor's office said in a statement: "Legal action has been launched against the culprits of the incident."

Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar came to the house where Kilicdaroglu was being held and called for the crowd to calm down. 

The funeral was held for one of four soldiers who Anadolu reported were killed on Saturday fighting in "operations against terrorists" on the border with Iraq.

The CHP last month won the mayor's office in Ankara and Istanbul in local elections in a setback for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The AKP is appealing for a rerun of the Istanbul election citing irregularities in the very tight race against the CHP candidate Ekrem Imamoglu.

Election authorities last week granted Imamoglu his mandate after carrying out a limited recount that showed he had won the city by a very slim margin of around 13,000 votes.