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Explosions, gunfire reported at Istanbul Ataturk airport

Posted at 3:30 PM, Jun 28, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-28 15:59:58-04

ISTANBUL, Turkey — Two explosions and gunfire rocked Istanbul Ataturk airport Tuesday, Turkey’s semi-official news agency Anadolu reported.

The ministry reported multiple injuries, but the exact number was not immediately clear.

The report says the explosions occurred in the international departures area of the airport.

Video on Turkish television showed a string of ambulances and fire trucks at the scene as authorities scurried under crime-scene tape.

Turkey has been rocked by a string of terror attacks over the past year as it weathers bombing campaigns carried out both by ISIS and Kurdish militants.

As part of the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS, Turkey allows coalition planes to fly raids on ISIS targets in neighboring Iraq and Syria from its territory.

And last year Turkey resumed hostilities with the PKK, Kurdish militant separatists, in earnest after a two-year cease fire broke down.

The PKK, or Kurdistan Worker’s Party, has been in an armed struggle with the Turkish government for decades and is considered a terror group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

In March, at least 37 were killed when a car bomb detonated near a bus stop in the Turkish capital, Ankara, in an attack claimed by a Kurdish militant group.

Six days later an ISIS suicide bomber detonated himself on one of Istanbul’s main streets, killing four.

A month earlier, 28 were killed in a blast targeting military vehicles in central Ankara. A Kurdish group claimed responsibility.

And in January, at least 10 German tourists died in a suicide bombing in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet Square that Turkish authorities linked to ISIS.

The violence has had an impact on Turkey’s tourism industry, a key sector of the national economy.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.