Istanbul attack: Police break siege and kill two female militants who launched raid on riot police station

The women had launched a gun and grenade attack on officers - yet failed to injure anyone

FILE: Turkish police in Istanbul after a bombing incident in January 2016

Two women who opened fire on police in Istanbul have been killed after they were trapped in a nearby apartment building, Turkish media reported.

A siege situation emerged on Thursday after the women launched a gun and grenade attack on a police bus as it entered a local riot squad headquarters.

The incident, in the Bayrampaşa district on the European side of the city, was caught on camera and the extraordinary video of their failed attack ran across Turkish TV channels.

Further video later emerged of police blasting the doors of the building where the women had fled, and ensuing gunfire could be heard.

Officials later reported that both women had been killed in the special forces raid, while one police officer was wounded in the arm.

Earlier, video of the attack on the station appeared to show two women dressed in everyday clothing pull out weapons and fire upon members of the public and a Turkish police bus.

While one woman fires what appears to be an uzi-style weapon, the other throws grenades from her bag. The second woman then pulls out a handgun and opens fire on an unseen target directly below the point where the video is being filmed.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Thursday's attack, but attacks on the security forces have increased as violence flares in the country's predominantly Kurdish southeast, where a ceasefire between Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants and the state collapsed last July.

The radical leftist group DHKP-C has also repeatedly staged similar attacks on police stations, largely in Istanbul suburbs.