Turkish navy detonates artillery shells disovered off Istanbul beach

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish underwater defence forces detonated more than 20 artillery shells on Turkey's Black Sea coast on Wednesday, after they were discovered lying in the sea near an Istanbul beach, state-run Anadolu agency reported.

A controlled explosion was carried out in the temporarily closed Sofular beach of Istanbul's Sile district, it said. Television images showed the blast taking place just a few meters off the beach in the sea, sending smoke in the air.

At least 28 unexploded artillery shells were detected on Sunday by Turkish military diving teams after a man reported suspicious metal objects to the authorities, the Istanbul governor's office had said on Monday.

Eight shells were brought ashore on the order of prosecutors, for identification and disposal, it added.

Investigations by underwater defense forces confirmed that the objects were unexploded artillery shells, Istanbul governor's office said. It gave no public explanation about the origin of the shells.

(Reporting by Burcu Karakas; Editing by Ece Toksabay)