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		</div><p>An Islamic State suicide bomber has detonated a bomb in a historic district of Istanbul popular with tourists, killing 10 people – at least nine of them German &#8211; and wounding 15 others, Turkish officials said.</p>
<p>Prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu said IS was behind the suicide attack, adding that Turkey is determined to battle the militant group until it no longer “remains a threat” to the country or the world.</p>
<p>Turkey’s state-run news agency said Mr Davutoglu held a telephone conversation with German chancellor Angela Merkel to express his condolences.</p>
<p>A senior government official confirmed that most of the victims were German. Ms Merkel had earlier said they were part of a German travel group.</p>
<p>“I strongly condemn the terror incident that occurred in Istanbul, at the Sultanahmet Square, and which has been assessed as being an attack by a Syria-rooted suicide bomber,” president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.</p>
<p>Deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmus said the bomber was a 28-year-old Syrian national whose “connections” were being investigated. It was unclear whether the death toll of 10 included the bomber.</p>
<p>Ms Merkel, speaking at a news conference in Berlin, condemned the attack: “Today Istanbul was hit, Paris has been hit, Tunisia has been hit, Ankara has been hit before. International terrorism is once again showing its cruel and inhuman face today.”</p>
<p>The explosion, which could be heard over a wide area, hit a park that is home to a landmark obelisk, 30 yards from the historic Blue Mosque.</p>
<p>Turkey’s Dogan news agency said one Norwegian and a Peruvian were also among the wounded, and Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said a South Korean had a finger injury. The Norwegian Foreign Ministry told Norway’s news agency NTB that the Norwegian tourist was slightly hurt and was being treated in a local hospital.</p>
<p>Mr Kurtulmus said two of the wounded were in serious condition.<br />
Germany and Denmark have warned their citizens to avoid crowds outside tourist attractions in Istanbul.</p>
<p>Last year, Turkey agreed to take a more active role in the US-led battle against IS. Turkey opened its bases to US aircraft to launch air raids on the extremist group in Syria and has carried out a limited number of strikes itself.</p>
<p>It has also moved to tighten security along its 560-mile border with Syria in a bid to stem the flow of militants.</p>
<p>Police sealed off the Sultanahmet area, barring people from approaching in case of a second explosion, and a police helicopter hovered overhead.</p>
<p>Sultanahmet is Istanbul’s main sightseeing area and includes the Topkapi Palace and the former Byzantine church of Haghia Sophia, now a museum.</p>
<p>Mr Davutoglu immediately convened a security meeting with the country’s interior minister and other officials.</p>
<p>As with previous attacks, authorities imposed a news blackout, barring media from showing images of the dead or injured or reporting any details of the investigation.</p>
<p>Turkey suffered two major bombing attacks last year, both blamed on Islamic State.</p>
<p>More than 30 people were killed in a suicide attack in the town of Suruc, near the border with Syria, in July.</p>
<p>Two suicide bombs exploded in October outside Ankara’s main train station as people gathered for a peace rally, killing more than 100 in Turkey’s deadliest attack. The prosecutor’s office said that attack was carried out by a local IS cell.</p>
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