ISTANBUL, (AFP) – A suicide bomber blew himself up in the centre of Istanbul on Sunday, wounding 15 people, the city’s police chief said.

We think it was a suicide attack,” said police chief Huseyin Capkin, adding that two of the wounded were in a serious condition.

Six of the injured were civilians and nine were police, he said.

Turkish television said the attack targetted anti-riot police.

The blast happened in Taksim Square, a major shopping and leisure district on the European side of the city.

According to eyewitnesses quoted by news channels, a powerful blast shook the area, which is right in the centre of the city.

Footage showed police and ambulances rushing to the scene.

A security cordon was thrown round the area and the nearby pedestrianised Istiklal street was closed off, the CNN-Turk and NTV reported.

Members of the separatist rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and extreme left-wing groups have carried out bomb attacks in the past in Istanbul, which is home to more than 12 million inhabitants