Authorities have said they believe the three attackers were a Russian, an Uzbek and a Kyrgyz national.
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According to a government official, the suicide bombers were from Russia, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
People from Chechnya and other provinces in Russia’s volatile North Caucasus region have had a visible presence among Islamic State fighters.
Three suicide attackers struck Turkey’s busiest airport on Tuesday, killing 44 people and injuring hundreds more. The United Nations said he directly commands 130 militants.
However, data published by the Soufan Group security consultants in December suggests the numbers are lower: 2, 400 from Russian Federation and 500 apiece from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Akhmed Chatayev from Russia’s North Caucasus region, directed the three attackers, USA congressman Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, told CNN. McCaul said his information came from Turkish intelligence. Turkey faces a threat from several outlawed groups, including the Kurdish separatist PKK movement and its affiliated wing the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, or TAK, but in the a year ago these attacks have predominantly targeted Turkish authorities, rather than civilians or tourists.
Mourners stand next to the body of Sondos al-Basha, a Palestinian woman who was killed in the Istanbul airport attack blamed on the Islamic State (IS) group on June 28, during her funeral in the West Bank town of Qalqilyah on July 1, 2016.
Court documents obtained by The AP on Friday show Chatayev had arrived by ferry from Germany – and that he and two pals said they were en route to Norway to fish.
The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) – a radical splinter group of the better-known Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) – claimed the suicide bomb attack in Ankara, saying that it was in response to security operations in the southeast.
The tactic used in the airport attack – shooting, and then detonating explosives – is called “inghimasi”, and it’s being used more frequently by terrorists. A government official could not immediately confirm the report.
Turkish police visited the Fatih area and showed neighbors airport surveillance video and photographs of the three men, residents said. “So in a sense, the ultimate Kamikaze warrior”, Weiss explained.
Police have also revealed critical details on how the attack was organized and carried out.
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There has been no claim of responsibility, but officials and analysts say the evidence points to an IS strike. Other foreign victims include Saudis, Iraqis and citizens from China, Jordan, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Iran and Ukraine.
