PKK denies role in Istanbul bomb attack that killed six

Armed wing of party says it would not target civilians, after Turkish officials blamed Kurdish militants

The armed wing of the Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK) denied any role in an attack on a main Istanbul shopping street, shortly after Turkish officials blamed Kurdish militants for the deadly blast.

Six people died and 81 were injured when a bomb struck Istanbul's popular pedestrian thoroughfare stiklal Avenue, timed to strike when it was most crowded. Turkey's justice minister, Bekir Bozda, said that a woman sat on a bench there for 45 minutes", and that the explosion occurred moments after she left.