IZMIR: Two attackers have been killed by Turkish police after an explosion near a courthouse in the coastal city of Izmir.
Provincial governor Erol Ayyildiz said: "A clash erupted after our police officers wanted to stop a vehicle at a police check point in front of Bayrakli courthouse. In this clash, terrorists detonated the car bomb while trying to escape."
Ayyildiz said a police officer and a courthouse employee had been killed in the attack. Five others were injured, some of them critically. The attackers were armed with Kalashnikov rifles and grenades, he added. A rocket launcher, automatic rifle and eight hand grenades were seized by police.
Earlier, 20 suspected Islamic State militants were held in Izmir on Wednesday. Turkish media reported that the raids were linked to the recent Istanbul nightclub attack.
Izmir has seen a number of arrests in connection with last weekend's Istanbul nightclub attack, but the raid on the court has not been linked so far.
A number of those arrested in Izmir are of the Uighur ethnic group. They are believed to have come from China's Xinjiang region and have ties to the nightclub attacker.
Several families had recently travelled to Izmir from Konya, a central city where the main Istanbul suspect was said to have stayed for several weeks before the attack.
ALSO READ:
Slaughtered by a terrorist in a Santa hat leaves 39 dead
