Woman wielding assault rifle and grenades is shot dead

A picture of the red-haired woman lying on the ground with a rifle strapped to her body and a handgun by her side has emerged and television footage showed police sealing off the street in the central Aksaray neighbourhood.

The attack comes a day after Turkish prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz, 46, died in hospital after members of the Revolutionary 

People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) stormed a courthouse and took him hostage. It is not known who fired the fatal shots.

'The Istanbul police headquarters on Vatan street was targeted by rifle fire and a female terrorist was killed in the clash,' the Istanbul governor's office said in a statement today.

The woman was carrying a rifle, two hand grenades and one pistol, it said. Local media said a man had also been detained. 

Separately, police detained a gunman on Wednesday who entered an Istanbul branch of the ruling AK Party and hung from its window a Turkish flag with the emblem of a sword added.

It was not immediately clear whether any of the attacks were linked, but Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu warned of the risk of 'provocations' and attempts to cause chaos ahead of June's national election. 

Today, the grieving family of Mr Kiraz who died after being shot in the head and chest during yesterday's courthouse siege wept over his coffin at his funeral. 

His coffin was covered with the Turkish flag for his funeral at Eyup Sultan Mosque in Istanbul. 

Two of his captors were killed after security forces took back the building where the far-left group was holding him.

Gunshots were heard and smoke could be seen rising from the scene at the end of the six-hour stand-off. 

Turkish authorities on Wednesday detained 22 suspected members of the group in the southern city of Antalya after receiving a tip-off they were planning further attacks, the Dogan news agency reported.

Meanwhile hundreds of lawyers, prosecutors and staff stood in respect on every floor of the giant Istanbul Caglayan Palace of Justice where Kiraz worked and the hostage drama unfolded.

'We will not forget you, our martyr,' read a gigantic banner, as a huge Turkish flag was hung from the top floor. The courthouse is to be renamed after Kiraz.

Justice Minister Kenan Ipek said the two members of the DHKP-C who took him hostage had 'held a gun to the nation'.

'We don't see this as an attack on our deceased prosecutor, but on the whole justice system,' he said at a ceremony for Mr Kiraz.

'Our state is powerful enough to track down those behind these lowlifes... The fact these assassins are dead shouldn't put those nefarious and dark forces at ease.' 

(dailymail.co.uk)