Gunmen attack US consulate in Turkey; 6 dead

The bearded gunmen emerged from a car and shot a traffic officer dead, then swarmed the guard quarters at the entrance to the consulate, where two policemen were killed, according to security video. Officers fired back, killing three of the assailants--all Turks--as bystanders fled for cover. At least one attacker escaped in the car.

An officer told The Associated Press that police suspected the armed men were linked to al-Qaida even though the assault did not match the terror group's usual hallmarks, such as coordinated attacks by suicide bombers that cause mass casualties.

The suspects may have been inspired by al-Qaida ideology without the capability to carry out more sophisticated attack, said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

No staff at the consulate, a relatively new building perched on a hill and surrounded by high walls, were hurt, U.S. Ambassador Ross Wilson said.

The attack sent people who had been waiting for visas running into shops and cafes across from the consulate, an eyewitness said. After the attack, bullet holes dotted three sides of the concrete-brick guard post.

Wilson and Istanbul's governor branded the assault a terrorist attack. Security around all U.S. diplomatic missions in Turkey was immediately increased, and the consulate canceled visa interviews for Thursday.

Turkish authorities have been increasingly targeting suspected Islamic militants since al-Qaida-linked suicide bombers killed 58 people in 2003 by targeting two synagogues, the British consulate and a British bank in Istanbul.

Turkey has also been cracking down on both ultranationalists who have attacked Christians and on Kurdish rebels, two groups it deems a threat to the country's security.

"Turkey is a fertile ground which is nourishing militants from almost every ideology--from radical Islamic ones to leftist and ultranationalist ones," said Nihat Ali Ozcan of the Economic Policy Research Institute in Ankara.