Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Biodun Iginla, BBC News
Showing posts with label Istanbul Reina nightclub attack. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Istanbul Reina nightclub attack. Show all posts

Monday, January 16, 2017

BREAKING: Istanbul Reina nightclub attack suspect captured


  • Jan 16, 2017  23H:16  GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME
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  • From the sectionEurope
This handout picture released by the Turkish police and taken from Dogan News Agency on January 16, 2017 shows the main suspect in the Reina nightclub rampage captured by Turkish policeImage copyrightAFP
Image captionPolice released a photo of the bloodied detainee

by Alara Berrak and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, Istanbul
The main suspect in the New Year's Eve attack on an exclusive nightclub in Istanbul has been arrested in the Turkish city.
Abdulkadir Masharipov is believed to have mounted the assault on the Reina club which left 39 people dead.
The Uzbek national is said to have been caught in Istanbul's Esenyurt district.
Citizens of Israel, France, Tunisia, Lebanon, India, Belgium, Jordan and Saudi Arabia were among the victims, and dozens of people were injured.
So-called Islamic State (IS) said it was behind the attack, saying it was revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria.
The gunman arrived at the club by taxi early that Sunday, before rushing through the entrance with a long-barrelled gun he had taken from the boot of the car.
Media captionClub-goer Francois al-Asmar: "He was shooting us on the floor"
He fired randomly at people celebrating the new year.
The Turkish authorities will be hugely relieved at the suspect's capture, the BBC's Mark Lowen reports from Istanbul.
But the far greater challenge for them is to secure this country and step up intelligence to halt the wave of terror attacks that has engulfed Turkey, our correspondent adds.

'Medical checks'

Police reportedly found the suspect along with his four year-old son at the home of a Kyrgyz friend in the city.
A police photo shows a man in a bloodstained tee-shirt with cuts and bruises to his face, being held in front of a camera.
According to the Hurriyet newspaper, he was due to undergo medical checks before being taken in for interrogation at a police headquarters.

Who is Abdulkadir Masharipov?

Istanbul suspectImage copyrightAP
Image captionThe suspect is an Uzbek national
  • Originally from the Central Asian republic of Uzbekistan, he reportedly arrived in Konya, central Turkey, with his family at the beginning of 2016
  • Said to have assumed the name Ebu Muhammed Horasani
  • Described by Turkish media as a member of the Islamic State group
Sources: Turkish media
Turkish media say the suspect rented a flat in the central Turkish city of Konya with a woman believed to be his wife and two children.
He arrived in Istanbul on 15 December, according to Hurriyet's sources.
Turkey has been battling IS inside northern Syria while seeking to push back ethnic Kurds in the region too.
Reina was one of Istanbul's best-known clubs, with a view across the Bosphorus towards Asia.
It attracted singers, actors and sports stars as well as foreign tourists.
map and satellite shot
Staff of the Reina nightclub in Istanbul nightclub pose for a picture (file photo)Image copyrightREUTERS
Image captionReina nightclub, seen here in a file picture, is one of the most exclusive in Istanbul

Reported IS attacks in Turkey

20 August 2016: Bomb attack on wedding party in Gaziantep kills at least 30 people, in an attack claimed by IS
28 June 2016: A gun and bomb attack on Ataturk airport in Istanbul kills 41 people, blamed on IS militants
19 March 2016: Suicide bomb kills four people in shopping street in Istanbul. IS blamed
12 January 2016: 12 Germans killed by IS bomber in tourist area of Istanbul
10 October 2015: More than 100 killed at peace rally outside railway station in Ankara; blamed on IS
20 July 2015: 34 people killed in bombing in Suruc, near Syrian border; IS blamed

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Wednesday, January 4, 2017

BREAKING: Turkey establishes identity of Istanbul attacker and manhunt goes on

 Wed Jan 4, 2017 | 08H:28  GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME
Turkey has established the identity of the gunman who killed 39 people in an attack on an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Day, its foreign minister said, and further arrests were made on Wednesday, but the attacker himself remains at large.
The gunman shot dead a police officer and a civilian at the entrance to the exclusive Reina nightclub on Sunday then opened fire with an automatic rifle inside, reloading his weapon half a dozen times and shooting the wounded as they lay on the ground.
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria.
"The identity of the person carrying out the attack in Ortakoy has been determined," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a televised interview with the state-run Anadolu news agency. He gave no details.
The gunman appeared to have been well versed in guerrilla warfare and may have trained in Syria, a security source and a newspaper report said on Tuesday.
The Haberturk newspaper said police investigations revealed that the gunman had entered Turkey from Syria and went to the central city of Konya in November, travelling with his wife and two children so as not to attract attention.

Police detained 27 people as part of the attack investigation in the western city of Izmir on Wednesday, including women and children, who had travelled from Konya, the Dogan news agency said. Video footage showed some of them being brought out of an apartment building to waiting vehicles.
Anadolu reported on Tuesday that 14 people had been detained over the attack while NTV reported that two foreign nationals had been detained at Istanbul's main airport.
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Monday, January 2, 2017

Turkey nightclub attack: IS says it carried out shooting


  • Jan 2, 2017  20H:40  GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME
    •  
  • From the sectionEurope
Media captionFootage shows the attacker pointing his gun as he approaches the Reina nightclub

by Alara Berrak and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, Istanbul
So-called Islamic State says it was behind the new year attack on a Turkish nightclub that killed 39 people.
The group said in a statement it was carried out by "a heroic soldier".
At least 600 revellers were celebrating in the early hours of Sunday at Istanbul's Reina nightclub when the gunman began firing indiscriminately, discharging some 180 bullets.
The gunman is still at large and a manhunt is under way. Police say they have made eight arrests so far.
Late on Monday, Turkish media said special forces police backed by a helicopter had launched an operation on a house in the Zeytinburnu district following a tip.
IS has been blamed for recent attacks in Turkey, which is taking military action against the group in neighbouring Syria.
Images released by Turkish police of the man suspected of carrying out the attackImage copyrightREUTERS/AFP
Image captionImages released by Turkish police of the man suspected of carrying out the attack
The militant group has already been linked to at least two attacks in Turkey last year.
The IS statement accused Turkey of shedding the blood of Muslims through "its air strikes and mortar attacks" in Syria.
Turkey launched a military operation in August aimed at pushing back IS and Kurdish forces, with some of the most intensive recent fighting against IS around the northern town of al-Bab.
Turkey has also been a key player with Russia in negotiating a truce between moderate rebel forces and the government.
Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Monday that the nightclub attack was a "message" against Turkey's operations in Syria but that they would not be affected.
Flowers are placed next to Turkish police officers as they stand guard near the Reina nightclub, which was attacked by a gunman, in Istanbul, Turkey, on 1 January 2017Image copyrightAFP
Image captionThe nightclub attack came just over an hour into the new year
More details of the nightclub attack have been emerging. The gunman arrived by taxi before rushing through the entrance with a long-barrelled gun he had taken from the boot of the car.
The attacker fired randomly at people in an assault lasting seven minutes, starting with a security guard and a travel agent near the entrance. Both were killed.
The gunman is reported to have removed his overcoat before fleeing during the chaos.
Media captionClub-goer Francois al-Asmar: "He was shooting us on the floor"
Turkish media reports quote police sources as saying he may have been from Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan.
Kyrgyzstan's foreign ministry said the reports that the suspect might be Kyrgyz were "doubtful" but that it would carry out checks.
Mr Kurtulmus said Turkish authorities were still working to identify the attacker.
"Information about the fingerprints and basic appearance of the terrorist have been found," he said.
Police are investigating whether he belongs to an IS cell blamed for an attack in June on Ataturk Airport in Istanbul.
Turkish media later showed video purported to be of the suspect at an unidentified date and location where he is seen handing over identification documents to an official behind a glass window. The video cannot be independently verified.
Relatives mourn Ayhan Arik, the travel agent who died at the Istanbul nightclub shooting, 2 January 2016Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES/BURAK KARA
Image captionRelatives mourn at the funeral of Ayhan Arik, a father of two
map and satellite shot
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused groups such as IS of trying "to create chaos".
"They are trying to... demoralise our people and destabilise our country," he said.
Turkey suffered a bloody 2016 with a series of attacks, some carried out by Kurdish militants.
The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin is lit up in remembranceImage copyrightAFP
Image captionThe Brandenburg Gate in Berlin is lit up in remembrance
But a day before the IS claim, the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was quick to distance itself from the nightclub attack, saying it would "never target innocent civilians".
Some two-thirds of those killed were foreign, according to local media, among them citizens from Israel, Russia, France, Tunisia, Lebanon, India, Belgium, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Bollywood director and producer Abis Rizvi was one of those who died, Indian media report.

Victims by nationality:

  • Turkey: 11
  • Saudi Arabia: 7
  • Iraq: 3
  • Lebanon: 3
  • Jordan, India, Morocco: two nationals from each country
  • Germany, Syria, Israel, France-Tunisia, Tunisia, Belgium, Kuwait, Canada, Russia: one national from each country
A complete record of those killed has yet to emerge. The body of one of those who died has yet to be identified.
Security guard Fatih Cakmak was one of the first to die.
His brother said he narrowly escaped a double bombing three weeks ago, having been on duty when Kurdish militants launched an attack near a football stadium, killing at least 44 people, mostly police.
At least 69 people are being treated in hospital, officials said, with three in a serious condition.
Media captionBullets are seen being fired by the gunman - and flying off passing cars
The nightclub, which sits on the banks of the Bosphorus, is one of Istanbul's most fashionable venues - popular with foreigners and often frequented by singers and sports stars.
Some guests are reported to have thrown themselves into the water to escape.

Deadly attacks in Turkey in 2016

Scene of explosion in Ankara's central Kizilay district on 13 March 2016Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionScene of explosion in Ankara's central Kizilay district on 13 March
Istanbul was already on high alert with some 17,000 police officers on duty in the city, following a string of terror attacks in recent months.
10 December: Twin bomb attack outside a football stadium in Istanbul kills 44 people, Kurdish militant group claims responsibility
20 August: Bomb attack on wedding party in Gaziantep kills at least 30 people, IS suspected
30 July: 35 Kurdish fighters try to storm a military base and are killed by the Turkish army
28 June: A gun and bomb attack on Ataturk airport in Istanbul kills 41 people, in an attack blamed on IS militants
13 March: 37 people are killed by Kurdish militants in a suicide car bombing in Ankara
17 February: 28 people die in an attack on a military convoy in Ankara

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