Roadside Bomb Blasts in Turkey's Istanbul Targeting Police Minibus

More than a dozen people have been injured in Istanbul in a roadside bomb explosion apparently aimed at a police vehicle passing through Turkey's biggest city.

Photo: Roadside Bomb Blasts in Turkey's Istanbul Targeting Police Minibus

The blast struck Istanbul's Buyukcekmece area on Tuesday morning when a remote controlled bomb went off, targeting a passing police minibus, Turkish media reported.

The incident took place in front of a hospital in the district which lies on the European side of the city straddling the Bosphorus Strait.

There were both police forces and passers-by among the wounded. The explosion came despite tightened security in Istanbul amid an ongoing international security summit attended by several international leaders, Press TV reports.

Istanbul is hosting a regional summit, but the bombing happened more than 20 km (12 miles) from the summit location.

"There was an explosion. A bomb was placed by the side of the road and was exploded as the minibus passed. That's the way it looks. It could be a remote control (explosion)," Anatolian quoted Capkin as saying.

"Fifteen of our friends are lightly wounded. We are investigating the incident," he said, Reuters says.