A SUSPECTED SUICIDE bombing in Istanbul has left at least 15 people wounded, reports Press Association.

The bomb was detonated in the heart of the Turkish capital’s shopping district, Taksim square.

Police chief Huseyin Capkin told reporters that nine police officers and six passers-by had been injured in the attack. At least two of the injured are believed to be in serious condition.

Taksim square in the Beyoglu district is a popular shopping area for locals and tourists.

Local television station NTV has reported that a body, believed to be that of the suicide bomber, was lying near the site of the explosion, covered over with newspapers. Capkin told reporters that the suspected bomber was male.

Al-Jazeera reports that two bombs were detonated in the attack. Their correspondent, reporting from the scene, said:

A second bomb had been planted right next to the suicide bomber. That bomb did not go off but had it done so, with huge crowds gathered after the first explosion as you would expect, that bomb was designed to cause maximum damage.

Nobody has yet claimed responsibility for the explosion. Both the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and religious extremists are suspected, with both groups having a history of deadly attacks within the country.