A police officer secures the area near the police headquaters after an attack in Istanbul, Turkey, January 20, 2017. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
ISTANBUL, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- An unidentified gunman on Saturday opened fire at police in Istanbul, marking the third armed attack in the city within 24 hours, local media reported.
No causalities were reported at the attack in which the attacker managed to escape after opening fire on a police vehicle in Istanbul's district of Esenyurt, according to CNNTurk.
The attacker remained at large leaving his gun and a bag containing hand grenades behind after police returned fire, CNNTurk added.
In the meantime, a truck, which supposedly has a brake failure, caused panic at the city's main police headquarters where the police opened fire into the air after the truck has not stopped at the security check point, press reports said.
Police detained two suspects in front of the headquarters in relation with the incident, according to private Dogan news agency.
On Friday evening, unidentified gunmen attacked Istanbul police headquarters and a building of ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) with flame throwers, causing no causalities.
According to press reports, police detained another five suspects in operations conducted in 15 addresses in the city over their links to the attacks.
Turkish police on Wednesday detained 27 Islamic State (IS) suspects in northwestern city of Bursa over their links to the shooting attack on an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Day, local media reported.
A gunman, identified as Abdulgadir Masharipov, a Uzbek national, shot dead 39 people and injured 69 others in Istanbul's Reina nightclub early on New Year's Day.
He was captured on Monday night after 17 days on the loose. The IS has claimed responsibility for the mass shooting.
According to Masharipov, the IS gave him 197,000 U.S. dollars after the attack for him to flee to Raqqa, an IS stronghold in Syria, CNNTurk said.
Istanbul has been hit by a series of deadly attacks over the past year.
