Istanbul supermarket blast injures six

Istanbul: Six people were injured on Monday by an explosion at an Istanbul supermarket, the second blast in Turkey's largest city in four days, and Turkish television said it had been caused by a bomb.

Television pictures showed injured shoppers being helped into ambulances after Monday's 7.30 p.m. (1730 GMT) blast. The ground was littered with glass from blown-out windows.

The store belongs to the Kiler chain and is located in the Bahcelievler district near the airport on the European side of Istanbul, a sprawling city of 12 million people.

Anatolian quoted local police chief Celalettin Cerrah as saying the blast had occurred near the supermarket entrance at a place where customers can leave bags before doing their shopping.

A hardline Kurdish group was quoted as saying it was responsible for the blast. The same group claimed responsibility for last week's explosion.

Tensions have been high in Turkey with the approach of the seventh anniversary of the capture of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan on February 15.

Governor Muammer Guler said one of the six injured was in a serious condition. Police had said earlier the blast had killed at least one person but Guler, visiting the scene, made no mention of any deaths.

Last Thursday, a bomb at an Internet cafe in Istanbul killed one person and injuring 16, an attack claimed by a group called the Kurdistan Liberation Hawks (TAK).

The Kurdish Firat news agency said it had received an email from TAK on Monday evening claiming responsibility for the supermarket blast and pledging more similar attacks.

TAK is believed to have links to outlawed Kurdish rebels fighting security forces in southeast Turkey and has claimed responsibility for other attacks in the past.

Ankara blames the rebels for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since they launched their armed struggle for an independent Kurdish state in southeast Turkey in 1984.