Two explosions, gunfire at main airport in Istanbul, several wounded

[Valin]

Jeruslem Post:

June 28 2016

 

Two explosion hit Turkey's largest airport, Istanbul Ataturk, on Tuesday, Turkish officials have confirmed, adding that several people were injured in the blast. Gunfire was also confirmed by the officials, after shots were heard from the vicinity of the airport terminal.

 

CNN Turk reported that officials fear it may have been a suicide attack. Footage from the network showed ambulances rushing to the scene, and taxis taking the injured away to hospital.

 

Turkey has suffered a number of attacks against civilian targets in the last number of months, including from Islamic terrorists from ISIS as well as Kurdish separatists from the PKK group.

 

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More to follow

[Valin]

Deadly Suicide Bombings Rock Istanbul Airport, But Unclear Who to Blame
Siobhán O'Grady
June 28, 2016

At least 10 people are dead and more than 20 injured after unidentified militants detonated themselves at Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul Tuesday evening.

According to initial reports, the two bombers blew themselves up outside the airport’s international departures wing after they were shot at by Turkish police, who targeted them in an effort to thwart the attack.

The Ataturk airport is one of the largest in the world and has dramatically increased its security in recent years, but those measures weren’t enough to prevent the strike. The attack comes just three months after a group of Islamic State militants launched a similar attack in the departures wing of the Brussels Airport, killing 15 people.

 

The Turkish government has already blamed the strikes on unspecified terrorists, but has not yet named which group they believe is responsible. The two most likely suspects are the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) or the Islamic State, both of which have repeatedly carried out terrorist attacks in Turkey in recent years.

 

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[Valin]

Live Turkey airport explosions kill at least 10, many more wounded in suicide attacks at Istanbul Ataturk

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JV league or some other group?

[Valin]

JV league or some other group?

 

Reuters

Suspected Islamic State suicide bombers kill 36 at Istanbul airport

ISTANBUL | By Humeyra Pamuk and Daren Butler

Tue Jun 28, 2016 9:41pm EDT

 

Three suicide bombers opened fire then blew themselves up in Istanbul's main international airport on Tuesday, killing 36 people and wounding close to 150 in what Turkey's prime minister said appeared to have been an attack by Islamic State militants.

 

One attacker opened fire in the departures hall with an automatic rifle, sending passengers diving for cover and trying to flee, before all three blew themselves up in or around the arrivals hall a floor below, witnesses and officials said.

 

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The attack bore similarities to a suicide bombing by Islamic State militants at Brussels airport in March which killed 16 people. A coordinated attack also targeted a rush-hour metro train, killing a further 16 people in the Belgian capital.

 

"FIRING AT ANYONE"

 

Paul Roos, 77, described seeing one of the attackers "randomly shooting" in the departures hall.

 

"He was just firing at anyone coming in front of him. He was wearing all black. His face was not masked. I was 50 meters (55 yards) away from him," said Roos, a South African returning to Cape Town with his wife after a holiday in southern Turkey.

 

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[Valin]