One attacker was killed and two were injured in a shooting near the Israeli consulate in Istanbul, while two police officers also suffered minor injuries, Istanbul Governor Davut Gul said, Reuters reports.
The attackers used rifles and pistols in the attack, Governor Davut Gul told reporters at the scene. He added that the consulate had not had Israeli diplomatic personnel for two and a half years.
The three attackers who took part in an armed clash with police near the Israeli consulate in Istanbul were linked to an organization that "abuses religion," Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said.
He stated that two of them were brothers.
Turkish special forces were seen in the area immediately after a period of intense gunfire, CNN reports.
The consulate was not in operation at the time of the incident, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry said.
Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek announced on the Iks network that an investigation has been launched into the shooting near the Israeli consulate located in the Istanbul municipality of Besiktas.
The consulate is located on the seventh floor of a building in that part of the city. It is still unclear whether the Israeli consulate was the target of the attackers.
Israeli authorities have announced that since the beginning of the conflict with Iran, there has been an unprecedented increase in attempts to carry out attacks on Israelis and Jews abroad.
Israel's National Security Council has issued a travel warning ahead of the Passover holiday, citing a significant increase in threats from Iran and its allies against Israelis and Jewish facilities around the world.
"We are seeing a record number of attempted attacks on Israelis and Jews around the world. Even the most seasoned veterans don't remember this scale," an Israeli counterterrorism official told CNN late last month.
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