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AT least five people were killed and another 36 wounded when a suicide bomb attack hit the main shopping street in Istanbul. Turkish government officials said at least five people were killed and 36 were injured – seven seri- ously – in yesterday morning's ex- plosion. Istiklal Street is at the centre of a very busy commercial and enter- tainment area adjacent to Taksim Square in central Istanbul. Footage from the scene showed police and emergency services cordoning off the street, which has been completely cleared of people. The street is lined by hundreds of shops and cafes and would have been filled with pedestrians at the time of the explosion. The location of the blast was the equivalent of a bomb going off in Oxford Street in London or Fifth Avenue in New York. The Israeli government con- firmed that one of its citizens was among those killed in the attack. The suspected suicide bomber is also believed to be among those killed. Twelve foreign citizens were among the wounded, includ- ing six Israelis, two Irish, one Ger- man, one Icelander, one Iranian and one Emirati. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. CNNTurk reported that the bomb went off early and that the attacker had wanted to hit another target. The deputy prime minister, Nu- man Kurtulmuş, condemned the attack and vowed that Turkey would not be cowed by terrorism. "They want to scare Turkey with these attacks," he said dur- ing a visit in the Black Sea town of Ordu. "They want citizens to lock themselves in at home. They want citizens to be unable to leave the house. But no, they can do what- ever they want, but we will not get used to terror." On Thursday, Germany closed both its embassy in Ankara and its general consulate in Istanbul because of the threat of a "possible imminent attack". The German school and the Goe- the Institute in Istanbul, both of which are in the Taksim area, have also been shut. Istanbul's governor on Friday accused the German diplomatic mission of creating panic and for reacting prematurely to "unconfirmed information". Turkey has been on high alert after suffering a string of deadly terrorist attacks on its soil. More than 200 people have died in five major bombings since July of last year. Last Sunday, suicide bombers killed 37 people at a bus stop in the Turkish capital, Ankara. The militant Kurdistan Freedom Fal- cons (Tak) claimed responsibility for the attack. The group, an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), said that the bomb- ing came in retaliation for ongoing security operations in the pre- dominantly Kurdish south-east, and threatened that attacks would continue. Tak previously claimed responsibility for a separate sui- cide car bombing in Ankara last month that killed 29 people. Just days before the general elec- tion in October 2015, more than 100 people were killed in a dou- ble-suicide bombing at a Kurdish peace rally in Ankara. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said terror groups are target- ing civilians because they are los- ing their struggle against Turkish security forces. Although it stands accused of clandestinely assisting the Islamic State (ISIS), Turkey is part of the US-led coalition against the Is- lamist terrorist group and allows coalition planes to use its air base at Incirlik for raids on Iraq and Syria. Turkey has also been carrying out a campaign of bombardment against Syrian Kurdish fighters of the People's Protection Units (YPG), which it regards as an ex- tension of the outlawed PKK. A two-year-old ceasefire be- tween Turkey and the PKK broke down last summer. Since then, more than 340 mem- bers of Turkey's security forces have been killed along with at least 300 Kurdish fighters and more than 200 civilians. maltatoday, SUNDAY, 20 MARCH 2016 News Suicide bomber targets central Istanbul At least five killed, 36 wounded in suicide bombing in heart of Istanbul shopping area