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The Aftermath of the Istanbul Attack

Turkish authorities identified the bomber as a Syrian born in 1988 who had recently entered Turkey.

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Isil has not made any claim of responsibility but the group is believed to have been behind two other major terror attacks inside Turkey in the last six months.

One of those caught in the security sweep is being held in connection with the Istanbul blast, Ala said on Wednesday.

Earlier, Turkey’s interior minister had announced the arrest of another person.

The German foreign ministry in Berlin said Wednesday that 10 of those killed in the attack were German, without specifying if they accounted for all the victims. A suicide attack on a historic synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia, killed 14 German tourists, three Tunisians and two French citizens. Fifteen people were also hurt in the attack.

Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maizière said Wednesday, there is now no evidence that the bombers targeted took German target.

Asked whether Turkey would retaliate for the attack with aerial strikes on IS positions, Davutoglu said: “I say this clearly, we would respond to every attack directed against us with the force we see fit”.

The intel warnings were sent to security units near the country’s borders, Turkish police and the anti-terror units of Istanbul and Ankara on December 17 and January 4.

Turkey, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation military alliance and the US-led coalition against ISIL, has repeatedly said it wants to flush ISIL from a zone in northern Syria just across its border.

According to The Wall Street Journal, one source said Fadli had previously been a member of the Syrian opposition fighters – one of the many rebel factions challenging Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

Eight Germans were among the dead and nine others were wounded, some seriously, German Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters in Berlin. Our hearts and thoughts are with Istanbul and Germany as the people recover from this shocking tragedy.

“In the current stage of the investigation, there is no indication that the attack was targeted against Germans”, he said. Last year, though, was on course to be the first since 2006 when the number of tourists failed to rise.

“We will continue our fight against terrorism with the same resolve and will never take a step back”, he said, according to Anadolu Agency.

Now Germans have been affected in the most-visited square in Istanbul, accounting for most of the 10 people left dead on Tuesday morning.

In impromptu remarks at his weekly audience, Pope Francis called on all believers to pray for the victims. About 6,000 faithful packed the Paul VI audience hall.

“Today Istanbul was hit; Paris has been hit, Tunisia has been hit, Ankara has been hit before”, Merkel said Tuesday.

Turkish police have arrested five people suspected of being involved in the suicide bombing that ripped through the historic heart of Istanbul, killing 10 German tourists.

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One suspect with a link to the attack was detained in Istanbul late Tuesday, Interior Minister Efkan Ala said during a news conference with his German counterpart.

Police search for evidence in the Sultanahmet district after an explosion in Istanbul