Turkish authorities kill gunman in Istanbul

17:08 TURKISH authorities today shot dead a heavily armed gunman after he fired upon and injured two security personnel in Istanbul’s Topkapi palace.

According to the Reuters news agency, the gunman opened fire in the courtyard near to the entrance of the palace. Turkish security forces killed him around one hour later.

Turkish interior minister Idriss Naim Sahin told the Turkish Anatolian news agency that the assailant was a Libyan citizen, born in 1975, and who entered Turkey on November 27.

Istanbul’s prefect, Hussein Avni Mutlu told reporters that the Libyan was shot after refusing to surrender, but without explaining his reasons for the attack.

The other victims in the incident, according to the Turkish press, were a soldier and a member of a private security firm.

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