AKIPRESS.COM - A man wielding a knife has been shot and wounded by security officials outside Israel's embassy in the Turkish capital, Ankara.

Israeli officials said he had tried to storm the embassy. The office of the Ankara governor said the suspect appears to be "mentally unstable", and no links had been found to any organisation, BBC reports.

No-one at the embassy was hurt, Israeli officials say. Local reports said staff took refuge as the attack began.

Several embassies in Ankara were closed late last week amid reports of a possible militant attack.

Turkey has been caught up in a series of deadly attacks in the past year, by jihadist group Islamic State and Kurdish militant groups.

Bomb disposal experts are examining a suspicious package at the scene.

The Times of Israel reported that the assailant tried to stab a security guard, who then fired a warning shot before shooting the man in the leg.

Turkey's state-run news agency, Anadolu, said the man was carrying the knife wrapped in newspaper before taking it out, brandishing it and shouting. It said he ignored warnings from staff.

A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Emmanuel Nahson, said the man was wounded in the foot. He said: "We don't know if he was attacking police officers or the embassy itself."