ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Unknown assailants, shouting "God is greatest," lobbed a percussion bomb at the office of Turkey's most staunchly secularist newspaper on Thursday, the third attack on the paper in just a week.
The device exploded but nobody was hurt, though some glass was blown out of windows by the blast, the chief editor of Cumhuriyet, Ibrahim Yildiz, told Reuters.
Attackers also tried to bomb Cumhuriyet's office last week and again on Wednesday evening, though on those two occasions the explosive device failed to go off.
"Somebody yelling "God is greatest" hurled the percussion bomb at some readers who had come to show us support after the attacks of the last few days," Yildiz said.
Security guards gave chase to the would-be bomber and his two accomplices, but lost them, he added.
Percussion bombs make a loud noise but do not usually cause serious damage. It is not so uncommon for militant groups in Turkey, including Islamists and far-leftists, to use them.
CNN Turk television reported similar attacks on Thursday in the Black Sea town of Ordu against the headquarters of two nationalist groups. Two people were hurt in those attacks.
The left-leaning Cumhuriyet, the traditional mouthpiece of Turkey's secular establishment, recently ran a media campaign warning of what it sees as rising Islamic fundamentalism in the European Union candidate country.
Cumhuriyet has been sharply critical of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has roots in political Islam, saying it is trying to undermine the country's secular system of government -- charges the AKP strongly denies.
Tensions between Turkey's secularists -- who include the armed forces -- and the AKP have started to rise ahead of next year's presidential and parliamentary elections.
