Turkish police have arrested one person in connection with the suicide bombing in Istanbul that killed 10 foreigners, most of them German tourists, Turkish Minister of the Interior Efkan Ala said yesterday.
The suspect was detained late on Tuesday, Ala said during a news conference with his German counterpart. He did not provide further details.
Turkish media reports said police had raided a home in an affluent neighborhood of Istanbul, detaining one woman suspected of having links to the Islamic State (IS) group.
Yesterday, Turkish police also arrested 13 suspected IS militants, including three Russian nationals, a day after the bombing in Istanbul’s historic Sultanahmet district. The attack, which also wounded 15 other people, including Germans, a Norwegian man and a Peruvian woman, was the latest in a string of attacks by Islamic extremists targeting Westerners.
Turkish authorities identified the bomber as a Syrian born in 1988, who had recently entered Turkey and was not among a list of potential bombers wanted by Ankara.
Turkish media, including newspapers close to the government, identified him as Nabil Fadli, and said he was born in Saudi Arabia.
Turkish Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdag said that authorities were working to identify people connected to the attacker. He would not provide details on the investigation, saying it would compromise those efforts.
The Russians were detained in the Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya, a popular destination for tourists, but it was not clear if the arrests were directly linked to the Istanbul bombing.
The state-run Anadolu Agency said the suspects were allegedly in contact with IS fighters in conflict zones and had provided logistical support to the group.
Ten other people were detained in Turkey’s third-largest city, Izmir, and in the central city of Konya.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in November said the number of Russians that left for Syria to fight for the IS group stood at 2,719. Of these, 160 have been killed, 73 have returned and been tried and 36 have been arrested.
Tuesday’s blast, just steps from the historic Blue Mosque, was the first by IS to target Turkey’s vital tourism sector, although the militants have struck with deadly effect elsewhere in the country.
Eight Germans were among the dead and nine others were wounded, some seriously, German Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters in Berlin.
The nationalities of the two others killed in the blast were not immediately released, but both were foreigners.
German Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maziere arrived in Istanbulto to discuss the attack with Ala and other Turkish officials.
It was not clear if the attacker had specifically targeted Germans.
Germany committed Tornado reconnaissance jets to the military effort against the Islamic State group in Syria following the November attacks in Paris, and started flying missions from the Incirlik air base in Turkey last week. It also sent a tanker aircraft and a frigate to help protect a French aircraft carrier in the eastern Mediterranean.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is set to issue sea and land warnings for Tropical Storm Krathon as projections showed that the tropical storm could strengthen into a typhoon as it approaches Taiwan proper, the CWA said yesterday. The sea warning is scheduled to take effect this morning and the land warning this evening, it said. The storm formed yesterday morning and in the evening reached a point 620 nautical miles (1,148km) southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, moving west-southwest at 4 kph as it strengthened, the CWA said. Its radius measured between 220km and 250km, it added. Krathon is projected
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