A rocket attack on Istanbul’s police headquarters on Vatan Street has been reported by residents at approximately 8:15PM local time.

Eyewitness reports indicate a rocket-propelled grenade-style weapon fired towards nearby police headquarters which missed its target. Experts identified photographs of a discarded launcher circulated on social media as a single-use M72 LAW Light Anti-Tank Weapon.

Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin later confirmed in a press statement that there were no casualties among officials resulting from the attack, which struck a garden wall.

A second rocket attack on AKP headquarters in Sutluce later in the evening struck a framed copy of Turkey’s revered national anthem, the İstiklâl Marşı, but otherwise caused no injury.

Turkey is in a state of heightened security following a series of deadly attacks, most recently a mass-shooting at Istanbul’s upmarket Reina nightclub on New Years Eve and another at a courthouse in Izmir. The country faces ongoing threats from so-called Islamic State and its affiliates as well as Kurdish militant splinter group TAK.

The Vatan police HQ had previously been identified by security forces as the detention point for the New Years Eve Reina nightclub attack suspect, although no direct connection has yet been asserted with today’s incident.

The Vatan police station is one of Istanbul’s primary headquarters

 

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