Car bomb as Turkey hunts gunman
Print Edition
A CAR bomb rocked the Turkish city of Izmir yesterday, killing at least two people and triggering a shoot-out that left two suspected militants dead, as authorities chased the fugitive killer behind the New Year attack in Istanbul.
Turkey is on edge after the shooting rampage at the Reina nightclub unleashed shortly after revelers rang in 2017 which killed 39 people and was claimed by the Islamic State group.
A top official said the gunman may be a Uygur and several people of Uygur origin were arrested yesterday.
Just four days after the nightclub carnage, a car bomb exploded outside a courthouse in the Aegean city of Izmir yesterday afternoon.
State-run Anadolu news agency said a policeman and a court worker, reportedly a bailiff, were killed.
Police battled “terrorists” in a clash which saw two militants killed while another escaped, according to Anadolu.
Several ambulances rushed to the scene after the blast in the port city, Turkey’s third largest metropolis.
The mayor of the local Bayrakli municipality, Hassan Karabag, told NTV television that at least 10 people were wounded, while the Dogan news agency put the injury toll at 11.
So far, there has been no claim of responsibility or an indication of who may have carried out the attack, the latest bombing after a year of bloodshed in the Muslim-majority NATO member.
Turkish authorities meanwhile were seeking to close in on the Istanbul club attacker, who had slipped into the night after spraying 120 bullets at partygoers celebrating New Year.
Of the 39 dead, 27 were foreigners including citizens from Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Iraq and Morocco.
The official who said the attacker was likely a Uygur added that authorities were looking into the possible existence of a terrorist cell which also included other jihadists from Central Asia.
IS took responsibility for the massacre in a statement on Monday, the first time it has issued a clear and undisputed claim for a major attack inside Turkey.
It said the attack was a response to Ankara’s military operation against jihadists in northern Syria, where Turkish armed forces are supporting opposition fighters retaking territory from IS.
Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak also told reporters that the attacker was “probably” of Uygur origin. Previous reports had said the killer could be from Kyrgyzstan or Uzbekistan.
Kaynak said airports had taken measures to ensure he did not flee Turkey and there were reports that the authorities also tightened land borders.
The Dogan news agency said checkpoints would be set up to search vehicles and people leaving the country at border crossings in Edirne, western Turkey, which has a land border with Greece and Bulgaria.
“The security forces are aware of who the terrorist is. We are also aware of the probable place where he might be,” Kaynak said, without giving further details.
Kaynak described the massacre as “sophisticated and well planned,” suggesting the gunman is part of a “well-formed cell.”
Special forces, meanwhile, detained several people of Uygur origin suspected of links with the Istanbul attack on the outskirts of the city yesterday, the Anadolu agency reported.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
