Bicycle bomb wounds 7 in Istanbul

The blast occurred near a bus stop in Etiler, a residential and shopping district, at the end of the morning rush hour in Turkey's biggest city, just before 9 am (0600 GMT).

Turkey is due to vote in a parliamentary election on June 12. Security forces are on edge as there has been a rise militant activity with attacks on police in recent weeks related to a long-running Kurdish separatist insurgency.

Police chief Huseyin Capkin said an electric bicycle with the explosive device planted on it was left close to a nearby police technical college.

"The explosive was not a large scale bomb, not very light either, we can say it was a medium sized bomb," Capkin told reporters at the scene, Kazinform refers to China Daily.

See www.chinadaily.com.cn for full version.