Turkey arrests 12 in bid to identify female bomber: report
Nobody has claimed responsibility for the bombing that took place in the Bursa district of Turkey's Istanbul
Turkish anti-riot police stand next to burning torches before the Turkish Spor Toto Super league football match between Besiktas and Bursaspor (AFP)
Published date: 28 April 2016 11:09 BST
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Last update: 8 years 6 months ago
Turkish police on Thursday arrested 12 suspects as they stepped up efforts to identify a female bomber who blew herself up in the city of Bursa, wounding 13 people, state media said.
The arrests took place in Bursa, Istanbul, the southeastern city of Sanliurfa and Afyon in central Turkey, Anatolia news agency said.
Wednesday's bombing, the latest attack to strike Turkey, took place near Bursa's 14th century Grand Mosque, a historic symbol of the city that was the first capital of the Ottoman empire.
Of the 13 who were hurt, eight were still in hospital on Thursday. None of them suffered critical injuries, local officials said.
Nobody has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, which was carried out by a woman, according to Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
Local newspapers however said the Islamic State group, which is blamed for previous deadly attacks in Turkey, was probably behind the latest blast.
They also said the bomber may have detonated her explosives prematurely, avoiding a higher toll. Police have taken her fingerprints and experts are carrying out DNA tests to identify her.
Turkey remains on high security alert after a series of deadly attacks since last summer blamed on IS and Kurdish rebels.
The latest attack came a day after the US embassy in Ankara warned tourists in Turkey of possible threats as the summer season approaches.
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