Attackers ‘shot dead’ by Turkish police after car bomb near courthouse in Izmir injures 10 people

Turkey was rocked by a second attack within a week on Thursday as suspected Kurdish militants killed two people with a car bomb outside a courthouse and then engaged police in a firefight in the street.

With police still hunting an Islamic State (Isis) gunman who massacred 39 people at an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Day, an explosion went off in the western city of Izmir on Thursday afternoon.

Two militants were killed in a gun fight with police but a third suspect escaped. The man was described as wearing as black coat and a white beret and authorities said they suspected the attackers were members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

One police officer and a court employee were killed by the blast and 10 others were injured.

The group was heavily armed with Kalashnikov rifles and grenades and authorities said they believed the men had planned to carry out a much deadlier attack but had been forced into action prematurely after being stopped at a checkpoint.

"Based on the preparation, the weapons, bombs and ammunition seized, it is understood that a big atrocity was being planned," said Veysi Kaynak, the deputy prime minister.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the Izmir bombing on Thursday. The PKK usually strikes in southeast Turkey, where most of the country's Kurds live, and would be unusual for the group to attack deep in the west.

The bombing and the news that yet another armed man was on the run added to a sense of perpetual danger in Turkey and is likely to further erode confidence in the ability of security services to protect the public.

Kaynak insisted, as public officials have after all recent attacks, that the violence would not deter Turkey from its military operations in northern Syria, which are aimed at both Isil and at Kurdish groups.

Meanwhile, police continued to hunt for the culprit behind the January 1 attack, who escaped the scene after shooting dead 39 people as they rang in the New Year.