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Ten people were killed and 15 wounded in a suspected terrorist attack on Tuesday in the main tourist hub of Turkey's largest city Istanbul, officials said, according to AFP news agency.

A powerful blast rocked the Sultanahmet neighbourhood which is home to Istanbul's biggest concentration of monuments and is visited by tens of thousands of tourists every day.

Turkey is on edge after a series of deadly attacks blamed on the Islamic State jihadist group including a double suicide bombing in the capital Ankara in October that left 103 people dead.

"Terrorist links are suspected," a Turkish official told AFP of Tuesday's blast, asking not to be named.
Ambulances and police were despatched to Sultanahmet, the city's main tourist hub, which is home to world-famous monuments including the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia.

"Investigations into the cause of the explosion, the type of explosion and perpetrator or perpetrators are under way," the Istanbul governor's office said in a statement quoted by the Dogan news agency.
It said 10 people were killed and 15 wounded.

Images published by Dogan showed several apparently dead bodies lying on the ground.

Media reports said the authorities were studying the possibility the blast was caused by a suicide bomber but there was no official confirmation.