Istanbul explosion: Suicide bomber ‘Islamic State operative’

The suicide bomber who killed up to 10 foreigners in the heart of Istanbul’s historic tourist district on Tuesday, at least nine of them German, was a foreign member of Islamic State, said Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Mr Davutoglu said all of those killed in the attack were foreigners and that he had spoken with German chancellor Angela Merkel to express condolences. Most of those wounded were also German, he said.

Speaking in Ankara in comment broadcast on television, Mr Davutoglu vowed that Turkey would find those linked to the bomber and punish them and said that its fight against Islamic State would continue.

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Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned "the terror incident that occurred in Istanbul, at the Sultanahmet Square, and which has been assessed as being an attack by a Syria-rooted suicide bomber".

The suicide bomber is thought to have recently entered Turkey from Syria and was not on Turkey’s watch list of suspected militants, said deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmus.

Mr Kurtulmus said thousands of people were being tracked for suspected militant links but the bomber was not one of them.

The explosion, which could be heard over a wide area, hit a park that is home to a landmark obelisk, 30 yards from the historic Blue Mosque.

Mr Davutoglu also told Ms Merkel on the same phone call that the details of an ongoing investigation regarding the situation.

Turkey’s Dogan news agency earlier reported that at least six Germans, one Norwegian and a Peruvian were among the wounded, and Seoul’s foreign ministry said one South Korean had a finger injury.

Ms Merkel had earlier said she was very worried that German citizens might be among the victims: “International terrorism has shown its ugly face,” she said. “We need to act decisively against it.”

A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said no Irish people are currently known to have been involved in the incident and the situation is being monitored. The department “has not received any requests for consular assistance at the moment”, she said.

Attack

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, although Islamic State was suspected. Kurdish militants and left-wing groups are also active in Turkey.

Last year, Turkey agreed to take a more active role in the US-led battle against Islamic State, also known as Isis. Turkey opened its bases to US aircraft to launch air raids on the extremist group in Syria and has carried out a limited number of strikes itself.

It has also moved to tighten security along its 560-mile (900km) border with Syria in a bid to stem the flow of militants.

The attack comes at a time of heightened violence between Turkey’s security forces and militants linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the country’s mostly-Kurdish southeast.

The country is also dealing with more than two million Syrian refugees and a wave of migrants from Syria and other countries pouring across Turkey to Europe.

Police sealed off the area in Istanbul, barring people from approaching in case of a second explosion, and a police helicopter hovered overhead.

Sultanahmet is the city’s main sightseeing area and includes the Topkapi Palace and the Haghia Sophia museum.

Mr Davutoglu immediately convened a security meeting with the country’s interior minister and other officials.

As with previous attacks, authorities imposed a news blackout, barring media from showing images of the dead or injured or reporting any details of the investigation.

Turkey suffered two major bombing attacks last year, both blamed on the Islamic State group.

More than 30 people were killed in a suicide attack in the town of Suruc, near the border with Syria, in July.

Two suicide bombs exploded in October outside Ankara’s main train station as people gathered for a peace rally, killing more than 100 in Turkey’s deadliest attack. The prosecutor’s office said that attack was carried out by a local IS cell.

– (Reuters/PA)