A Turkish court has jailed seven suspects pending trial on terrorism charges over last month’s triple suicide bombing at Istanbul’s main airport, bringing the number in custody to 37, state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
The attack at Ataturk airport killed 45 people and wounded hundreds, the deadliest in a series of bombings this year in Turkey.
The seven suspects were detained on charges of “membership of an armed terrorist group” and being accomplices to murder, Anadolu said.
The Dogan news agency said all seven were foreigners.
One government official said the attackers were from Russia, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, while Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Islamic State militants from the former Soviet Union were behind the attack.
Media reports said at least 11 of those detained were Russian.
The Istanbul bombing was followed by major attacks in Bangladesh, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, all apparently timed for the run-up to Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of the Ramadan holy month.
In the June 28 airport attack, three bombers opened fire to create panic outside the airport, before two of them got inside and blew themselves up. The third militant detonated his explosives outside the entrance to the international arrivals terminal.
Moscow says thousands of Russian citizens and citizens of other former Soviet states have joined the Islamic State group, traveling through Turkey to reach Syria.
Russia fought two wars against Chechen separatists in the North Caucasus in the 1990s and has fought Muslim insurgents in Dagestan.
Last week, a Turkish newspaper said authorities were seeking two suspected Islamic State militants thought to be linked to the attack and believed to be in hiding near the border with Syria.
Earlier, Turkish jets and artillery struck 10 Islamic State targets as they were preparing to fire on the nation, the General Staff said on Sunday.
US-led coalition jets and Turkish howitzers hit Islamic State rocket and mortar batteries stationed in north Syria’s Dabik region late on Saturday night. Eight militants were reportedly killed in the operation, the General Staff said.
Meanwhile, Turkish jets also struck seven Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) targets in the southeastern province of Hakkari.
Airstrikes regularly target PKK positions in Turkey and northern Iraq, while fighting and curfews continue in several southeastern towns.
On Sunday, a roadside bomb in the Semdinli district of Hakkari killed five Turkish troops, according to Anadolu, which blamed the attack on PKK rebels.
Nearly 600 Turkish security personnel have been killed by the PKK since a two-and-a-half-year ceasefire ended in July last year.
The renewed conflict has also led to the death of an estimated 5,000 Kurdish militants and scores of civilians, according to Anadolu.
The PKK has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state in a conflict that has claimed more than 40,000 lives. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the EU.
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