Death toll from bus attack rises to four in Istanbul

Turkish military sources put the death toll at four after a roadside bomb struck a shuttle bus carrying military personnel in Istanbul on Tuesday.

The bomb attack killed four people and injured five others, the semi-official Anatolia news agency said.

Bekir Celik, a senior sergeant, was the latest to be named among the victims of the deadly attack.

Two other sergeants and the 17-year-old daughter of a military personnel were also killed.

The roadside blast took place in the Halkali district in the European side of the city as the bus carrying military personnel from the military lodgings was passing by a cemetery.

An investigation into the explosion is underway, according to the report.

The report quoted Istanbul's Bagcilar Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu as saying that the blast was caused by a roadside fragment bomb detonated remotely.

The blast came a day after Turkish military forces began a major deployment of troops and elite forces along the border with Iraq, as fighting intensified between Turkish armed forces and militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Source: Xinhua