The attackers then detonated their bombs, the official said.
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Video footage shows people running for cover inside the terminal building. Everywhere was covered with blood and body parts.
A BA spokesman said: “We had one flight to Ataturk airport that has turned around and is coming back to London Gatwick”. I saw bullet holes on the doors.
Ataturk Airport is the country’s largest airport and one of the busiest in the world.
Hurriyet is citing witnesses speaking to CNN Türk as stating that they heard gunshots coming from the airport parking lot closest to the worldwide terminal, where the explosions occurred.
The United States has grounded all flights to and from Istanbul, and President Barack Obama was briefed, according to the White House, which condemned the “heinous terrorist attack”, while recalling the attack on the Brussels airport this year. CNN’s Ali Veshi said Ataturk is a modern, sophisticated airport.
Earnest says the United States remains steadfast in its support for Turkey, a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally and partner, “along with all of our friends and allies around the world, as we continue to confront the threat of terrorism”.
Those attacks have raised tensions between Turkey-a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member-and the USA, which supports Syrian Kurds in their fight against ISIS.
The US State Department also announced that it is trying to determine if any Americans were killed in the attack.
The US and French consulates warned people to stay away from the area, while Turkish officials said flights would be cancelled until at least 8:00 am on Wednesday morning.
The US also urged citizens to avoid areas in close proximity to the Syrian border. “. You see people of all shapes and colors, in all sorts of dress”.
The attack bore eerie echoes of a similar terror strike against the Brussels airport earlier this year, though the Brussels attackers were able to get inside the terminal before they detonated their explosives. “We heard some more gunfire and then another explosion, and then it was over”.
Turkey, which is part of the US -led coalition against Islamic State, is also fighting Kurdish militants in its largely Kurdish southeast.
At John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens Tuesday night, travelers from Turkey were beside themselves after learning they narrowly missed the devastating suicide bombings.
The PKK has been in an armed struggle with the Turkish government for decades and is considered a terror group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. Mehmet Kilicer, governor of Ankara said the attack had targeted a convoy of military vehicles during rush-hour traffic.
Turkey has been hit by at least five attacks blamed on IS jihadists, including a blast in Ankara in October 2015 that left over 100 dead, though the group has never formally claimed responsibility for an attack in Turkey.
The latest attack that hit Istanbul occurred on June 7, in which a bomb-laden auto targeted a riot police shuttle bus, killing 11 people, including six police officers.
In January, at least 10 German tourists died in a suicide bombing in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet Square that Turkish authorities linked to ISIS.
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The violence has had an impact on Turkey’s tourism industry, a key sector of the national economy.
