A huge blast, believed to be caused by a bomb, rocked a supermarket in Istanbul on Monday, wounding 15 people, local media reported.

Police sources were quoted by the semi-official Anatolia news agency as saying that two of the wounded were in critical condition.

Earlier, local authorities put the figure of the wounded at six. Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler was quoted by Anatolia as saying that an investigation into the cause of the blast was currently underway, adding "it seems to be caused by a device that exploded."

Meanwhile, Istanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah said that there was no surveillance camera system at the supermarket and that the blast occurred at the deposits section of the shop on late Monday, according to the report.

The entrance of the two-storey supermarket, located in the Bahcelievler district of Istanbul which is Turkey's largest city and popular tourism destination, was badly damaged, added there port.

Earlier, the private NTV cited Guler as accusing Kurdish militants of carrying out the attack.

The incident came shortly after a Thursday bomb explosion at an Internet cafe in Istanbul, which killed one person and wounded about 15 others.

Istanbul also witnessed a series of suicide bombings targeting British and Jewish interests in the city in November 2003. Some 60 people were killed in the attacks carried out by al-Qaida-linked Turkish militants.

Kurdish rebel groups also launched bombing attacks in Turkey in the past.

(Xinhua News Agency February 14, 2006)