Suicide bomber in Turkey injures 5 police officers

A suicide bomber opened fire on Turkish police and then blew himself up during their raid on a suspected Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) hideout near the border with Syria, leaving five police officers wounded. The incident occurred in northern Turkey as G-20 leaders gathered elsewhere in the country for a summit, authorities said Sunday.

The Gaziantep governor's office said the suicide bomber died in the raid late Saturday on the fifth-floor apartment in Gaziantep city. Two women were detained while three children were being placed in protection.

Police seized explosive materials and several automatic weapons during the raid, the statement said.

The raid came hours after another incident in which Turkish soldiers clashed with ISIL fighters who fired at them near Gaziantep. Four fighters were killed.

It was not clear if that clash was connected to the later raid. 

Meanwhile, at least seven suspected fighters were picked up in Ankara early Sunday, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

G-20 leaders are meeting near the Mediterranean city of Antalya, 400 miles west of Gaziantep for a summit now overshadowed by the Paris attacks.

The war in Syria and other violence, including by ISIL, were already high on the G-20 agenda, but the Paris attacks that killed at least 129 people Friday night have added new urgency to the G-20 talks.

ISIL group has claimed responsibility for the Paris bloodbath and is blamed for two massive bombings in Turkey — one in the Syrian border town of Suruc and another in Ankara — that killed about 130 people in July and October.

Turkey has carried out sweeps against suspected ISIL fighters in the weeks leading to the summit, detaining dozens of people, including 20 suspects nabbed in and around Antalya.

The Associated Press