Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Russian nationals suspected of carrying out Istanbul airport attack

Sputnik
Thu, 30 Jun 2016 13:07 UTC

© REUTERS/ Murad Sezer

Foreign nationals suspected of carrying out Tuesday's deadly attacks in Turkey's Ataturk Airport were from the CIS states, namely from Russia, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, media reported on Thursday, citing a Turkish official.

On Tuesday, a coordinated terrorist attack at Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport left at least 42 people dead and more than 240 injured.

With the total number of arrests in connection with the attack now up to 22, 13 people have been detained in Istanbul and nine in Izmir, three of these foreign nationals, the CNN reported.

Earlier on Thursday, a security source from Russia's Chechen Republic said that one of those suspected of carrying out the attack in Istanbul was a Chechen national, wanted in Russia for membership in an illegal armed group.

Russia's presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier that the Kremlin was unaware whether Turkey made inquiries with Russia regarding the possible Chechen origins of one of the attackers.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that the initial indications suggest that the Islamic State jihadist group, outlawed in the United States and Russia, was responsible for the attack, although the official investigation was still underway.

Comment: RFE/RL adds a few more details:

The pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper said the Russian bomber was from Daghestan, which borders restive Chechnya.

The Kyrgyz security service declined to comment, while the Uzbek security service could not immediately be reached.
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Separately, security forces killed two suspected IS militants at the border with Syria, Turkish media reported on June 30.

The Anadolu Agency, citing unnamed security sources, says the two Syrian nationals were killed on June 25 while trying to cross the border illegally and ignored security forces warnings to stop.

One of the two militants was wanted by Turkey on suspicion that he would carry out suicide attacks in the capital, Ankara, or in the southern city of Adana, Anadolu said.