The Istanbul nightclub attack: The latest updates and what we know

Istanbul : La soirée du Nouvel an vire au cauchemar dans une boîte de nuit
The latest coverage:

What we know so far:

• An attacker armed with a long-barreled weapon opened fire at a nightclub in Istanbuls Ortakoy district early Sundaymorning
• 39 people are dead, and 40 others arewounded
• Three of the wounded remain in criticalcondition
• istanbuls governor vasip sahn described the incident as a terrorattack
• Authorities are searching for thegunman
• The private Dogan news agency said Sunday the dead included a victim fromCanada.
• 24 of the shooting attacks 39 victims were reportedly citizens of other countries. This includes at least seven Saudi nationals and four Iraqis, two Indians, two Tunisians and one each from Syria, Israel, Lebanon andBelgium.
• Frances foreign minister says one French citizen was killed and three otherswounded.
• CCTV footage showed that the assailant in a nightclub shooting in Istanbul wore a Santa Claus hat for part of the attack. Turkeys prime minister denied these news reports. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters Sunday: There is no truth to this. He is an armed terrorist as we knowit.
• The United States is denying reports in Turkish news outlets and on social media that its security agencies knew in advance that a nightclub in Istanbul was at risk of a terrorattack.

- With reports from the Associated Press and Reuters

Video: Dozens killed in attack on Istanbulnightclub

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Turkish police officers block the road leading to the scene of an attack in Istanbul, early Sunday, Jan. 1,2017.

AP

Recent attacks aimed atTurkey

Oct. 10, 2015: Suicide bombers hit a lunchtime peace rally in Ankara, killing about 100 people. No one has claimedresponsibility.

Jan. 12, 2016: A suicide bomber blew himself up and killed 10 tourists, all foreigners, in an attack in Istanbuls central historicdistrict.

Feb. 17, 2016: A blast in Ankara hit a convoy of buses filled with soldiers at a traffic light, killing 28 and wounding more than60.

March 13, 2016: A car rigged with explosives blew up in a public square in Ankara, killing more than 30. A Kurdish militant group claimedresponsibility.

March 19, 2016: A suicide bomber struck a main avenue in Istanbul, killing at least four, including two Americans. Turkey said ISIS carried out theattack.

June 7, 2016: A car bomb destroyed a police vehicle near an Istanbul tourist district, killing 11 people and woundingdozens.

June 28, 2016: Three suicide attackers killed 45 people and wounded dozens more at Istanbuls mainairport.

Dec. 10, 2016: A double bombing in Istanbul outside a soccer stadium killed at least 38 people and wounded136.

Dec. 19, 2016: Russias ambassador to Turkey was assassinated by a gunman at an art exhibit inAnkara.

The New YorkTimes

Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/the-istanbul-nightclub-attack-the-latest-updates-and-what-weknow/article33464646/

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Explosions targeting police kill 29 outside Istanbul stadium

Suspected car bomb blast near Besiktas stadium in Istanbul

Two bombs have exploded outside a major football stadium in istanbul after fans had gone home, killing 29 people and wounding scores more, Turkish officials said.

Police cordoned off the area as smoke rose from behind the newly built Vodafone Arena Stadium, known colloquially as Besiktas Stadium after the local team.

Witnesses also heard gunfire after the explosions, which apparently targeted police officers, and at least 166 were reported wounded.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement: We have once again witnessed tonight in Istanbul the ugly face of terror which tramples on every value and decency.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. This year, Istanbul has witnessed bombings attributed by authorities to Islamic State or claimed by Kurdish militants. A state of emergency is in force following a failed July 15 coup attempt.

Turkey is a partner in the US-led coalition against IS and its armed forces are active in neighbouring Syria and Iraq. It is also facing a renewed conflict with an outlawed Kurdish movement in the south east.

The first and larger explosion took place after home team Besiktas beat visitor Bursaspor 2-1 in the Turkish Super League. Without giving numbers, Mr Erdogan said the timing of the attack aimed to maximise the loss of life and vowed the nation would overcome terrorism.

It is thought to be a car bomb at a point where our special forces were located, right after the match at the exit where Bursaspor fans had earlier left, said Turkish interior minister Suleyman Soylu.

He told reporters in Istanbul the first explosion took place on a hill next to and overlooking the stadium. The second explosion struck Macka Park and was believed to be a suicide bomb.

The private NTV channel reported that the target of the first attack was a bus for riot police.

Kurdish militants often target security forces while IS-linked attacks have targeted tourists and the broader public.

Investigators, including Istanbul police chief Mustafa Caliskan, were quickly on the scene. Forensic experts in white uniforms scoured the vicinity of the stadium and the park where the suspected suicide bombing took place.

The Besiktas sports club strongly condemned the attack and said an employee of one of its stores was among the fatalities, as well as member of its congress who was responsible for security at the stadium.

Bursaspor reported that none of the wounded were its fans and issued a statement wishing a speedy recovery to our wounded citizens.

Those attacking our nations unity and solidarity will never win, sports minister Akif Cagatay Kilic said on Twitter. Transport minister Ahmet Arslan, also writing on Twitter, described it as a terrorist attack.

Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg condemned what he described as horrific acts of terror, while European leaders also sent messages of solidarity.

Saturday nights attacks come five months after Turkey was shaken by a failed military coup, in which more than 240 people were killed, many of them in Istanbul, as rogue soldiers commandeered tanks and fighter jets in a bid to seize power.

Istanbul has seen several other attacks this year, including in June, when around 45 people were killed and hundreds wounded as three suspected Islamic State militants carried out a gun and bomb attack on its main Ataturk airport.

Source: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/explosions-targeting-police-kill-29-outside-istanbul-stadium-1.2901388

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People who witnessed the Istanbul suicide bombings share terrifying details of the attack

Dozens dead in Istanbul airport suicide attack

A relative of the Ataturk Airport suicide bomb attack victim waits outside Bakirkoy Sadi Konuk Hospital as she cries, in the early hours of June 29, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey. Defne Karadeniz/Getty Images

Witness accounts are pouring in following the suicide bombings at Istanbul"s international airport that left at least 36 dead on Tuesday.

The witnesses described a scene of terror and chaos as the attackers detonated their explosives and opened fire.

"There was blood and injured passengers everywhere," one witness from Iran told BuzzFeed:

"We heard gunshots when we were checking in. I grabbed my family and ran," Jim Hyong Lee of South Korea told The Telegraph. "Someone waved us into the prayer room and hid us there until the police came."

One traveler at the airport, Laurence Cameron, told CNN he had just gotten off an airplane to find a scene similar to "a disaster movie."

"It was just a massive crowd of screaming people. Some were falling over themselves. A poor chap in a wheelchair was just left, and everyone just rushed to the back of the building, and then people ran the other way and no one really seemed to know what was going on," he told CNN.

"It looked like someone had gone around with a bulldozer and just shredded the entire entrance to the terminal."

Another witness told CNN that authorities herded her and about 30 other people into a women"s prayer room. She said when they were released into the main terminal hall, she saw b****y boot marks on the floor.

"There was a lot of blood," she told CNN. "There was so much glass on the floor they were scuffing it aside so we didn"t slip."

Judy Favish described a similar scene in the main hall.

"Chaos and blood and people running around and anxious and worried. It was just horrible," witness Judy Favish told CBS News.

She said authorities huddled her and other travelers in a basement cafeteria for more than two hours after the explosions. Some of the people she was with had been shot and were bleeding, she said.

"There were a couple of people who had really bad panic attacks, and were literally convulsing they were so anxious," she told CBS News. "And then another woman, I think she must have had a heart attack, again from anxiety."

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/istanbul-airport-suicide-bombing-witness-accounts-2016-6

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