Amateur footage was captured in the Sultanahmet tourist area of police rushing in to help the wounded – with one police vehicle overturning on the way there.
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Turkey has been hit by a string of deadly attacks blamed on jihadists in the past year, but Tuesday’s bombing was the first time in recent memory that tourists had been targeted in the heart of the city.
“The investigation is continuing in a very intensive way”, Ala told a news conference in Istanbul alongside German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere. The Hurriyet newspaper said the woman was detained because a mobile phone – which she had reported stolen – had been used to call the bomber.
The bomber, who died in the attack on Tuesday, was identified as Nabil Fadil, a Syrian citizen and Islamic State operative who was born in Saudi Arabia in 1988.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Satya family from Palmerston North say they are “counting their lucky stars”.
A spokesman for the Interior Ministry says the investigators flew to the Turkish metropolis Wednesday.
On Wednesday, three more suspected ISIS members were detained in the southern resort city of Antalya.
Turkish authorities said on Wednesday morning that the bomber killed 10 people in the attack.
According to Ala, 220 suspected ISIL members were detained across Turkey a week before the Tuesday’s attack in Istanbul. It was unclear whether the arrests were made in direct connection with the Istanbul bombing, for which the Turkish prime minister has said ISIS was responsible.
The Turkish minister assured foreigners visiting the country that the government has taken necessary measures to ensure security.
Eight Germans were among the dead and nine others were wounded, some seriously, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters in Berlin. “In previous attacks, it was Turks who crossed into Syria to fight Kurds and then crossed back to attack Kurdish targets”, said Aaron Stein, senior fellow at Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. “Germany and Turkey are becoming even closer”, he said.
Anadolu said the suspects were allegedly in contact with ISIS fighters in conflict zones and had provided logistical support to the group.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in November said the number of Russians that left for Syria to fight for the IS group stood at 2,719. Two of the injured German citizens were in critical condition.
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Suzan Fraser reported from Ankara.
