A bomb blast at an Internet cafe in Istanbul wounded at least 14 people, including six police officers, on Thursday, and a hardline Kurdish group claimed responsibility, according to Reuters. The Kurdistan Liberation Hawks, which claimed to be behind a series of bombings in Turkey in recent years, carried out the blast in the Bayrampasa district, not far from Istanbul airport, according to a person who called the Kurdish Firat news agency, claiming to speak on behalf of the group. The group is believed to have links to Kurdish rebels fighting security forces in southeast Turkey. It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the report, Reuters reported. "It's a bomb explosion, there are 14 injured. One of them is seriously injured," Istanbul police chief Celalettin Cerrah told reporters after visiting the scene. Local police later told Reuters up to 16 people had been wounded, including a child who was in a serious condition. Local people said the blast was very powerful. --More 22 54 Local Time 19 54 GMT
