Two Killed in Bomb Attack on Istanbul Masonic Lodge

Two Killed in Bomb Attack on Istanbul Masonic Lodge
At least two people were killed and six wounded when two assailants carried out a bomb attack on a Masonic lodge in Turkey's commercial capital Istanbul, the city's governor said. The two attackers shot their way into a restaurant on the ground floor of the lodge in the Kartal district on the city's Asian side of town after wounding a security guard, Muammer Guler told reporters at the site of the blast. One of them then set off explosives wrapped to his body, killing himself and a nearby waiter, he added. The second assailant was badly wounded in the explosion, and was hospitalized with a severed arm and injuries to his abdomen, Guler said. "No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. We have no organization name either," the governor said. Five of the some 40 people sitting in the restaurant were injured, but the governor said other guests escaped unharmed as the explosion took place at the entrance. "We are trying to identify the assailants," Guler said. There was no immediate word on the motive for the attack. Earlier reports had suggested the explosion was caused by a grenade attack. Information at the scene was scarce as police cordoned off the area where the three-storey lodge building was located. But footage broadcast on the CNN-Turk news channel showed medics treating injured in the back of ambulances as firefighters and police officers worked behind the security line. **PHOTO CAPTION*** One of the attackers is taken away by the emergency services after suffering injuries. (AFP/Salih Zeki Fazlioglu)

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