A triple suicide bombing and gun attack that occurred on June 28, 2016 at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport has killed at least 36 people, including foreigners, with Turkey’s prime minister saying early signs pointed to an assault by the Islamic State group. / AFP PHOTO /
ANKARA, Tukey (AFP) — Turkish police on Thursday rounded up 13 suspects over the triple suicide bombings at Istanbul’s international airport that left 42 people dead, a Turkish official said.
“Earlier today, the police raided 16 locations to detain 13 ISIS suspects, including three foreign nationals,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
He did not reveal the nationalities of the foreign suspects, but said it was “probable” that at least one of the Ataturk airport bombers was a foreign national.
The Hurriyet newspaper identified one of the three bombers that struck Turkey’s busiest airport on Tuesday as Osman Vadinov, a Chechen of Russian origin.
Vadinov reportedly crossed into Turkey from Raqa in Syria, the stronghold of the Islamic State group which authorities believe was likely behind the attack.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the carnage at Ataturk, one of Europe’s busiest airports.
Turkey has cracked down on IS sleeper cells at home after a string of deadly attacks blamed on the jihadists, who have seized swathes of land in Iraq and Syria, right up to the Turkish border.
>© 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse