The suicide bomber who killed 10 people in Istanbul registered as a refugee in Turkey just one week before the attack after entering the country from Syria, according to Turkish media.
Advertisement
On Tuesday, Turkish authorities identified the bomber as Nabil Fadli, who they said was an ISIS member.
One of the suspects was detained in Istanbul late on Tuesday, Turkey’s interior minister Efkan Ala said during a news conference with his visiting German counterpart.
On Wednesday, Turkish police also arrested 13 suspected IS militants, including three Russian nationals.
German federal interior minister Thomas de Maizière flew to Istanbul on Wednesday morning and, on his arrival, he thanked the Turkish authorities for assisting families of the victims.
Two of the injured German citizens were in critical condition.
The number of Germans killed in Tuesday’s suicide bombing in Istanbul has risen to ten from nine, a spokeswoman for the German foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
“The Government of India strongly condemns the suicide attack that occurred in Istanbul yesterday”.
Interior Ministry spokesman Johannes Dimroth said the team will work in cooperation with Turkey and will try to support the ongoing investigation plus identification of victims.
The industry was also harmed by waves of bomb attacks attributed to Islamic State militants, including one in Ankara in October that killed more than 100 people.
The powerful explosion tore through a crowd of visitors gathered outside the Blue Mosque in the Sultanahmet district in the city’s historical center.
“After it was determined that ISIS conducted this lowly attack, our Armed Forces, upon our instructions, hit ISIS locations in Syria and Iraq with approximately 500 artillery and tanks via ground in the last 48 hours since the day of the attack”, the statement read. Police threw up a tight security cordon around the area as helicopters hovered overhead, and crowds of anxious locals and tourists clamored to find out what had happened, an AFP correspondent said.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and de Maiziere placed red roses by the obelisk, which appeared to have sustained no damage in the bombing.
The guide of the German group was quoted by Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper as saying she had yelled “run” after seeing the bomber, who was standing among the tourists, pull a pin on his explosives, enabling some of them to get away. Then, they said he was Saudi.
Long accused of failing to crack down on ISIL, Turkey has in recent months moved against extremist cells operating on its territory, making hundreds of arrests.
Among those arrested in the wake of Tuesday’s bloodshed were 16 people suspected of planning a major attack in Ankara, Anatolia news agency said. “Considering the arrests were made in hot pursuit, though these people didn’t carry out the attack themselves, the suspects were all monitored by Turkish security”.
Among those were three Russians linked to the attack.
Advertisement
The blast would be the first by IS to target Turkey’s vital tourism sector, although the militants have struck with deadly effect elsewhere in the country.
