Libyan man carrying rifles and cartridge belt wounds soldier and security guard at Topkapi Palace before being shot by police
A heavily armed Libyan man has wounded a soldier and a security guard at the entrance of Istanbul's Topkapi Palace before being shot dead, according to witnesses.
Multiple gunshots were reportedly heard on Wednesday morning from behind the high walls of the palace.
Police anti-terror squad officers shot dead the attacker, said Istanbul's police chief, Hüseyin Çapkin. Turkey's interior minister Idris Naim Sahin said the gunman was a 35-year-old Libyan national who entered Turkey on Sunday.
A picture by IHA news agency showed the man carrying at least two rifles and a cartridge belt around his neck. It shows the man wearing a black overcoat and cap and carrying a backpack.
Istanbul's governor, Hüseyin Avni Mutlu, said the motive of the attack was not known. He said the police decided to shoot him when the gunman seemed determined not to surrender.
The gunman responded to a question in Arabic moments before the attack, witness Idris Cengiz said.
Witnesses said the man shot the soldier in the leg and the guard in the abdomen before running into the palace courtyard, chanting in Arabic: "God is Great!"
"I saw the gunman carrying a gun on his shoulder, like a hunter. He had ammunition around his neck and a backpack. His overcoat was buttoned, I couldn't see what was underneath," Cengiz said.
"He was coming toward us and my friend said he looked like a hunter so I asked him in English: 'Are you a hunter?' He said something in Arabic, which I didn't understand. Then he said: 'Allahu Akbar' [God is Great]."
Cengiz said he and his friend heard the gun shots moments later.
"When we ran we saw a soldier and a security guard laying on the ground," he said.
Some tourists also threw themselves on the ground in panic, Cengiz said. There were no other reports of injuries in the attack.