Ankara, Jul 16 (IANS): Soldiers who backed an attempted coup in Turkey and shot at civilians and police from a tank on Istanbul's Bosphorus bridge surrendered on Saturday.

A total of 50 soldiers surrendered abandoning their tanks with their hands raised, CNN Turk reported.

Three civilians were injured in the artillery shooting that started on Friday night on the bridge that connects Turkey to Asia.

The head of the armed forces, General Hulusi Akar, who was reportedly taken hostage, has been freed.

Meanwhile, a helicopter used to bomb the building of the Turkish satellite operator TÜRKSAT was downed in Ankara's Galbasi district, Hurriyet Daily news said.

Turkey's police chief said 16 "coup plotters" have been killed in clashes at the "paramilitary headquarters" and a further 250 detained, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Separately, 13 soldiers who tried to storm the presidential palace in Ankara were arrested.

In total, 754 members of the armed forces have been arrested, among them 29 colonels and five generals. Rear Admiral Nejat Atilla Demirhan and General Memduh Hakbilen, the chief of staff of Turkey’s command for the Aegean region, are said to be among those detained, the Guardian said.

So far, 60 people were reported killed.