ANKARA: A bomb attack at a police station in Istanbul injured five police officers and two civilians, Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
The attack targeted the police station in Istanbul's Sultanbeyli neighborhood and caused a fire that collapsed part of the three-story building, the agency reported. The explosion also damaged neighboring buildings and around 20 cars parked nearby, the private Dogan news agency reported.
There was no immediate claim for the attack, which comes at a time of a sharp spike in violence between Turkey's security forces and rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.
The attack also comes at a time when Turkey is taking a more active role against Islamic State militants. Last month it conducted aerial strikes against IS positions in Syria and agreed to let the U.S.-led coalition use its bases for its fight against IS. The move followed a suicide bombing blamed on IS which killed 32 people and after IS militants fired at Turkish soldiers from across the border in Syria, killing one soldier.
Police cordoned off the area but people gathered outside the police station shouted slogans against the PKK, Hurriyet newspaper reported.