Pro-Hamas ‘suicide bomber’ storms US-owned manufacturing facility in Turkey
- The man is believed to be holding seven Procter & Gamble staff captive
A professional-Hamas ‘suicide bomber’ has taken hostages after storming a manufacturing facility owned by US cosmetics large Procter & Gamble close to Istanbul in protest on the conflict in Gaza.
The man has been pictured with a suicide vest strapped to his chest whereas holding a gun, and is believed to be conserving seven manufacturing facility staff captive.
The armed assailant will be seen concealing his face behind a keffiyeh – a black and white scarf which has grow to be an emblem of Palestinian solidarity – and standing in entrance of a spray-painted flag of Palestine.
The Turkish flag has additionally been painted alongside the Palestinian flag, subsequent to the phrases ‘for Gaza’ written in crimson.
The client items issue had been evacuated earlier at this time, whereas particular forces and medical personnel sealed off the sprawling facility, Turkish media reported.
The man was standing subsequent to a drawing of the Palestinian flag and the phrases ‘for Gaza’ painted on the wall in crimson
A handgun will be seen within the footage subsequent two packets of cigarettes with the pro-Gaza writing sprawled throughout a wall within the manufacturing facility the place seven persons are believed to be held hostage
It was not instantly clear how many individuals have been being held on the plant, which lies on the japanese outskirts of Turkey’s largest metropolis, a spokesperson from the union representing the manufacturing facility staff advised information company AFP.
The spokesperson stated the assailant was holding seven folks, including that the remainder of the plant’s staff had been launched.
A P&G spokesman stated the positioning employs 500 folks throughout a number of shifts, which means that not all of them would have been working on the time of the assault.
‘Earlier at this time, we evacuated our Gebze facility and are working with native authorities to resolve an pressing safety state of affairs,’ the corporate stated in a press release launched to AFP, including that it had no details about the assailant’s motives.
‘The security of P&G folks and our companions is our prime precedence,’ the Cincinnati, Ohio based mostly firm added.
‘It is true,’ the police spokesman stated when requested to confirmed media experiences that the assault was linked to Gaza.
Footage from the scene confirmed police organising a cordon across the sprawling plant.
‘It is true,’ a police spokesman stated when requested to confirmed media experiences that the assault was linked to Gaza.
Footage from the scene confirmed police organising a cordon across the sprawling plant.
Special operation forces and medical personnel have been dispatched to the scene, Turkish media reported.
A P&G spokesman stated the positioning employs 500 folks throughout a number of shifts, which means that not all of them would have been working on the time of the assault (Pictured: Stock photograph of P&G headquarters)
The conflict in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’s October 7 assault on Israel, which resulted within the deaths of round 1,140 folks, principally civilians, based on an AFP tally based mostly on official figures.
Militants additionally seized about 250 hostages. Israel says 132 stay in Gaza together with at the very least 29 folks believed to have been killed.
Following the deadliest assault in Israel’s historical past, its army launched a withering offensive that has killed at the very least 27,019 folks in Gaza, most of them girls and youngsters, based on the well being ministry within the Hamas-run territory.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has emerged as one of many Muslim world’s harshest critics of Israel for the huge toll of its marketing campaign in opposition to Hamas militants.
He has branded Israel a ‘terrorist state’ and in contrast Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
Erdogan has additionally accused the United States of supporting ‘genocide’ in Gaza.
Erdogan’s feedback mirror widespread anger throughout the predominantly Muslim however formally secular nation on the United States for its conventional assist for Israel.
Hundreds of protesters stormed a southeastern Turkish air based mostly utilized by US and British forces on the eve of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s go to to Ankara in November.
Turkish on-line campaigns are additionally attempting to organise boycotts of US merchandise resembling Coca-Cola and the espresso chain Starbucks.
