Turkish police hold 3 after Istanbul blasts - TV

Police in Istanbul have detained three people, two of them women, in connection with the twin bombings of two Istanbul synagogues…

Police in Istanbul have detained three people, two of them women, in connection with the twin bombings of two Istanbul synagogues on yesterday morning that killed 22 people, local television reported this morning.

It said secret intelligence police were questioning the three detainees but gave no further information.

A police spokesman could not confirm the report, which was also carried by CNN Turk television. Sunday's edition of the Hurriyet newspaper also reported three detentions.

Turkish officials have said international groups - possibly including al Qaeda - might have had a hand in the blasts, which wrecked cars and buildings over wide areas around the heavily protected synagogues.

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Turkish officials yesterday dismissed a claim from a radical Turkish Islamist group that it was behind the attacks.

Islamist, Kurdish and leftist groups have in the past used violence in Turkey.