Police defuse bomb found in Istanbul mall

Authorities detonate explosive material at second site nearby; marks third local terrorist plot in two weeks

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish police defused an improvised bomb found in a mall in an eastern suburb of Istanbul on Saturday, the private Dogan news agency reported. Police also detonated potentially explosive butane canisters found at another mall nearby.

It is the third in a string of recent terrorist incidents in Istanbul. On January 1, police subdued a man after he threw grenades and fired a weapon at officers near the prime minister’s offices. And on Tuesday, a suicide bomber killed a police officer and wounded another in tourist district.

A leftist group first claimed responsibility for both of those incidents, but has now withdrawn its claim about the suicide bombing.

The group had identified the suicide bomber as Elif Sultan Kalsen. But Kalsen’s family, who were called to a criminal medical center to identify the body, said it was not their daughter.

Some Turkish media have said the bomber was a Russian citizen of Chechen origin. Dogan said that no one has claimed responsibility for the bomb found Saturday.

The incidents in Istanbul as well as the al-Qaeda linked terrorist attacks that left 30 dead in France this week have left Turkey on edge. On Saturday, the state-run Anadolu Agency said that Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu would join European leaders at a unity rally in Paris Sunday.