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'Cruel and heinous': 38 people killed in Turkey twin blasts including 30 police

Turkey declared a day of national mourning on Sunday, after two bombs killed 38 people, including 30 police officers according to AFP.

In addition 155 were wounded in Saturday's twin bombings in Istanbul, Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said in a press conference Sunday.

Minister for the Interior Süleyman Soylu described Saturday's coordinated attack at the Vodafone Arena in Istanbul as "cruel and heinous".

Soylu said earlier many of the wounded were police officers, and that initial indications were that a car bomb targeting a police bus was responsible.

Twin blasts have rocked Turkey's capital. Source: @TerrorEvents/Twitter

One blast was a car bomb outside the Vodafone Arena home to Istanbul's Besiktas soccer team followed by a suicide bomb attack in an adjacent park less than a minute later - shook a soccer-mad nation still trying to recover from a series of deadly bombing this year in cities including Istanbul and the capital Ankara.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim ordered flags flown at half mast to commemorate the victims, state-run Anadolu Agency said.

President Tayyip Erdogan cancelled a planned trip to Kazakhstan, his office said. Erdogan described the blasts as a terrorist attack on police and civilians. He said the aim of the bombings, two hours after the end of a match attended by thousands of people, had been to cause the maximum number of casualties.

Damage caused by an explosion in Turkey. Source: @TerrorEvents/Twitter

"Nobody should doubt that with God's will, we as a country and a nation will overcome terror, terrorist organisations ... and the forces behind them," he said in a statement.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Turkish soccer team Bursaspor said none of their fans appeared to have been injured in another explosion outside one of Istanbul's main stadiums hours after the end of a match.

Twin blasts have rocked Turkey's capital. Source: @TerrorEvents/Twitter

"We have contacted our fan groups. There appear to be no injuries among our fans. We wish injured citizens a quick recovery," Bursaspor said in a statement on its Twitter account.

The Islamic State jihadist group has been blamed for some bombings in Turkey this year, while others have been claimed by Kurdish militants. The blasts came less than a week after Islamic State urged its supporters to target Turkey's "security, military, economic and media establishment".

"It was like hell. The flames went all the way up to the sky. I was drinking tea at the cafe next to the mosque," said Omer Yilmaz, who works as a cleaner at the nearby Dolmabahce mosque, directly across the road from the stadium.

"People ducked under the tables, women began crying. Football fans drinking tea at the cafe sought shelter, it was horrible," he told Reuters.

Turkey is a member of the NATO military alliance and part of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State. It launched a military incursion into Syria in August against the ultra-hardline Islamist group. It is also fighting a Kurdish militant insurgency in its own southeast.

A police officer secures the area after twin blasts at Istanbul. Photo: AAP

Smoke rising from the Besiktas football club stadium following reported explosions in Istanbul. Photo: AAP

The bombings come five months after Turkey was shaken by a failed military coup, in which more than 240 people were killed, many of them in Istanbul, as rogue soldiers commandeered tanks and fighter jets in a bid to seize power.

Istanbul has seen several other attacks this year, including in June, when around 45 people were killed and hundreds wounded as three suspected Islamic State militants carried out a gun and bomb attack on its main Ataturk airport

A police officer secures the area after twin blasts at Istanbul. Photo: AAP

Smoke rising from the Besiktas football club stadium following reported explosions in Istanbul. Photo: AAP

"People ducked under the tables, women began crying. Football fans drinking tea at the cafe sought shelter, it was horrible," he told Reuters.

Armed police sealed off streets around the stadium. A police water cannon doused the wreckage of a burned out car and there were two separate fires on the road outside the building.

Damage caused by an explosion in Turkey. Source: @TerrorEvents/Twitter

Broadcaster NTV said the explosion targeted a police vehicle that was leaving the stadium after fans had already dispersed.

Travel alerts issued in the hours before the attack suggested the Turkish capital Ankara was a possible target.

Today's top news stories – December 12