the act. On 4 June 1999 at approximately 6:00, 2 men of the DHKP-C armed with pistols and a light antitank weapon (LAW) attempted to attack the Consulate General of the United States, Istanbul. The attack was conducted in order to protest against Operation Allied Force and to promote the brotherhood between the DHKP-C and the Yugoslav People. Both attackers were killed in a firefight with Turkish Police. Hunger strike in prisons Protesting against the new prison order (where prisoners would be held in isolation) inmates from DHKP-C, TKP/ML and TKİP started a hunger strike on 26 October 2000. Between that date and 19 November 2000, a total of 816 prisoners in 18 prisons joined the hunger strike. Escalation (2001 to present) 2001 DHKP-C added suicide bombings to its operations in 2001 with attacks against Turkish police in January and September of that year. On 10 September 2001, a suicide bomber killed himself and three other people in Istanbul. 2002-2003 Security operations in Turkey and elsewhere have weakened the group, however. DHKP-C did not conduct any major attacks in 2003, although a DHKP-C female suicide bomber Sengul Akkurt's explosive belt detonated by accident on 20 May 2003 in Ankara, in a restroom, while she was preparing for an action. 2004 On 24 July 2004, another mistaken detonation, on a bus in Istanbul, occurred, killing Semiran Polat of DHKP-C and three more people and injuring 15 others. 2005 On 1 July 2005, Eyüp Beyaz of DHKP-C was killed in Ankara in an attempted suicide bombing attack on the ministry of justice. 2006 In late February 2006, female member Fehriye Erdal was convicted in Belgium, while under house arrest. However, shortly before her conviction she escaped, and , still has not been found. 2008 The group's Istanbul commander, Asuman Akça, was arrested in 2008 on the grounds that she was planning to assassinate Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. She was tried, but the court failed to reach a verdict and, as she had already been in custody for four years, she was released pending another trial in 2012. Akça then told the media that she would reveal links between the DHKP-C and the Ergenekon organization. Shortly afterwards, she was shot in the head. The man accused of killing her, who has been described as a member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as well as the DHKP-C and MLKP, was alleged