<div>Ten people were killed and 15 wounded in a suspected terrorist attack today in the main tourist hub of Turkey's largest city Istanbul, officials said.<br /><br />A powerful blast rocked the Sultanahmet neighbourhood which is home to Istanbul's biggest concentration of monuments and is visited by tens of thousands of tourists every day.<br /><br />Turkey is on edge after a series of deadly attacks blamed on the Islamic State jihadist group including a double suicide bombing in the capital Ankara in October that left 103 people dead.<br /><br />"Terrorist links are suspected," a Turkish official told AFP of today's blast, asking not to be named.<br /><br />Ambulances and police were despatched to Sultanahmet, the city's main tourist hub, which is home to world-famous monuments including the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia.<br /><br />"Investigations into the cause of the explosion, the type of explosion and perpetrator or perpetrators are under way," the Istanbul governor's office said in a statement quoted by the Dogan news agency.<br /><br />It said 10 people were killed and 15 wounded.<br />Images published by Dogan showed several apparently dead bodies lying on the ground.<br />Media reports said the authorities were studying the possibility the blast was caused by a suicide bomber but there was no official confirmation.<br /><br />The explosion was powerful enough to be heard in adjacent neighbourhoods, witnesses told AFP. Police cordoned off the area to shocked passers-by and tourists and the nearby tram service has been halted.<br /><br />"The explosion was so loud, the ground shook. there was a very heavy smell that burned my nose," a German tourist named Caroline told AFP.<br /><br />"I started running away with my daughter. We went into a nearby building and stayed there for half an hour. It was really scary," she added.<br /><br />Media reports said the blast took place at 0820 GMT around the Obelisk of Theodosius, a monument from ancient Egypt which was re-erected by the Roman Emperor Theodosius and is one of the city's most eye-catching monuments.<br /><br />Turkey is on alert after 103 people were killed on October 10 when two suicide bombers blew themselves up in a crowd of peace activists in Ankara, the bloodiest attack in the country's modern history.<br /><br />That attack was blamed on Islamic State (IS) jihadists, as were two other deadly bombings in the country's Kurdish-dominated southeast earlier in the year.<br /><br />Turkish authorities have in recent weeks detained several suspected IS members, with officials saying they were planning attacks in Istanbul.<br /><br />But Turkey is also waging an all-out assault on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has staged dozens of deadly attacks against members of the security forces in the southeast.</div>
<div>Ten people were killed and 15 wounded in a suspected terrorist attack today in the main tourist hub of Turkey's largest city Istanbul, officials said.<br /><br />A powerful blast rocked the Sultanahmet neighbourhood which is home to Istanbul's biggest concentration of monuments and is visited by tens of thousands of tourists every day.<br /><br />Turkey is on edge after a series of deadly attacks blamed on the Islamic State jihadist group including a double suicide bombing in the capital Ankara in October that left 103 people dead.<br /><br />"Terrorist links are suspected," a Turkish official told AFP of today's blast, asking not to be named.<br /><br />Ambulances and police were despatched to Sultanahmet, the city's main tourist hub, which is home to world-famous monuments including the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia.<br /><br />"Investigations into the cause of the explosion, the type of explosion and perpetrator or perpetrators are under way," the Istanbul governor's office said in a statement quoted by the Dogan news agency.<br /><br />It said 10 people were killed and 15 wounded.<br />Images published by Dogan showed several apparently dead bodies lying on the ground.<br />Media reports said the authorities were studying the possibility the blast was caused by a suicide bomber but there was no official confirmation.<br /><br />The explosion was powerful enough to be heard in adjacent neighbourhoods, witnesses told AFP. Police cordoned off the area to shocked passers-by and tourists and the nearby tram service has been halted.<br /><br />"The explosion was so loud, the ground shook. there was a very heavy smell that burned my nose," a German tourist named Caroline told AFP.<br /><br />"I started running away with my daughter. We went into a nearby building and stayed there for half an hour. It was really scary," she added.<br /><br />Media reports said the blast took place at 0820 GMT around the Obelisk of Theodosius, a monument from ancient Egypt which was re-erected by the Roman Emperor Theodosius and is one of the city's most eye-catching monuments.<br /><br />Turkey is on alert after 103 people were killed on October 10 when two suicide bombers blew themselves up in a crowd of peace activists in Ankara, the bloodiest attack in the country's modern history.<br /><br />That attack was blamed on Islamic State (IS) jihadists, as were two other deadly bombings in the country's Kurdish-dominated southeast earlier in the year.<br /><br />Turkish authorities have in recent weeks detained several suspected IS members, with officials saying they were planning attacks in Istanbul.<br /><br />But Turkey is also waging an all-out assault on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has staged dozens of deadly attacks against members of the security forces in the southeast.</div>