Turkish police have started an operation against DHKC (Revolutionary People's Liberation Front) militants who kidnapped prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz hostage at Istanbul’s Çağlayan Courthouse today.

The prosecutor is in the case of Berkin Elvan, a teenager who died after being hit on the head by a tear gas canister fired by police during Gezi protests in the summer of 2013. The group announced the hostage taking in a statement on the website called Halkın Sesi, which included a photo of Kiraz with a gun pointed at his head.

Two perpetrators have been reported killed during the police operation while the prosecutor has reportedly been wounded and taken to hospital.

The operation came after the group warned that the prosecutor would be killed if their demands were not met; that the identities of police officers who killed Berkin Elvan be made public, that they confess their crimes during a live broadcast and be tried in people's courts. Militants also demanded that charges against those prosecuted for participating in protests condemning Elvan's death be dropped.

Journalists covering the incident were attacked by police who also assaulted and detained lawyers affiliated to the Legal Bureau of the People.