Grenades thrown at building in Istanbul

Several hand grenades were thrown at an Istanbul municipality building on the Asian side of Istanbul this morning, the state-…

Several hand grenades were thrown at an Istanbul municipality building on the Asian side of Istanbul this morning, the state-run news agency Anatolian reported.

One of the grenades exploded and one person was injured, said broadcaster CNN Turk.

Police are searching for two people who escaped from the scene of the attack by motorcycle, Anatolian said.

The attack comes at a time of heightened tensions in Turkey after a top court fined the ruling AK Party for anti-secular activities, but stopped short of closing it.

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Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan represents in parliament a district on the Asian side of Istanbul and has a house in Uskudar, which is also on the Asian side.

Two bombs detonated in an Istanbul neighbourhood killed 17 people last week, and six people were killed when three gunmen attacked the US Istanbul consulate last month.

Bomb attacks are common in Turkey, often carried out by leftists, Kurdish separatists and Islamic radicals.

Reuters