Sammuel999
JF-Expert Member
- Jun 1, 2016
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Istanbul Ataturk airport attack: At
least 36 dead and dozens injured
A gun and bomb attack on Istanbul's Ataturk
international airport has killed 36 people and
injured more than 140, officials say.
Three attackers opened fire near an entry
point to the terminal and blew themselves up
after police fired at them, officials say.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said early signs
suggested the so-called Islamic State was
behind the attack.
Recent bombings have been linked to either IS
or Kurdish separatists.
Tuesday's attack looked like a major co-
ordinated assault, says the BBC's Mark
Lowen.
Ataturk airport was long seen as a vulnerable
target, our Turkey correspondent adds,
reporting from a plane stuck on the tarmac in
Istanbul.
There are X-ray scanners at the entrance to
the terminal but security checks for cars are
limited.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said
the attack should serve as a turning point in
the global fight against militant groups.
"The bombs that exploded in Istanbul today
could have gone off at any airport in any city
around the world," he said.
The US called the attack "heinous", and said
saying America remained "steadfast in our
support for Turkey".
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter
Steinmeier said: "We grieve for the victims. We
stand by Turkey".
How dangerous is Turkey's unrest?
Turkey caught in overlapping security
crises
Country profile: Turkey
'Dressed in black'
Speaking several hours after Tuesday's attack,
Mr Yildirim said at least 36 people were killed
and many wounded, some seriously.
He also said foreigners were likely to be
among the dead.
Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag put the number
of injured at 147.
Footage has emerged on social media that
appears to show a police officer shooting one
of the attackers, who detonates a suicide belt
as he is lying injured on the ground.
Flights in and out of the airport were
suspended after the attack.
The US Federal Aviation Administration
grounded all flights between the US and
Istanbul.
Taxis were used to rush casualties to hospital
after the attack.
Eyewitness Paul Roos told the Associated
Press news agency that he was due to fly
home to South Africa when the attackers
struck.
"We came up from the arrivals to the
departures, up the escalator when we heard
these shots going off," he said.
"There was this guy going roaming around, he
was dressed in black and he had a handgun."
Charles Michel, the Prime Minister of Belgium
whose capital city was targeted by bombers in
March , tweeted from the EU summit in
Brussels: "Our thoughts are with the victims of
the attacks at Istanbul's airport. We condemn
these atrocious acts of violence."
In December, a blast on the tarmac at a
different Istanbul airport, Sabiha Gokcen,
killed a cleaner. That attack was claimed by a
Kurdish group, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons
(TAK).
Major recent attacks
2016
7 June, Istanbul: Car bomb kills seven police
officers and four civilians. Claimed by Kurdish
militant group TAK
19 March, Istanbul: Suicide bomb kills four
people in shopping street. IS blamed.
13 March, Ankara: Car bomb kills 34. Claimed
by TAK.
17 February, Ankara: 29 killed in attack on
military busses. Claimed by TAK
12 January, Istanbul: 11 Germans killed by
Syrian bomber in tourist area
2015
23 December, Istanbul: Bomb kills cleaner at
Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport. Claimed by
TAK
10 October, Ankara: More than 100 killed at
peace rally outside railway station. Claimed
by IS
20 July, Suruc, near Syrian border: 34 people
killed in bombing in Kurdish town. IS blamed
Security concerns and a Russian boycott over
last year's downing of a Russian military jet
on the Turkey-Syria border have hit the
Turkish tourist sector this year.
More than 61 million passengers travelled
through Ataturk airport in 2015.
A US state department travel warning for
Turkey, originally published in March and
updated on Monday, urges US citizens to
"exercise heightened vigilance and caution
when visiting public access areas, especially
those heavily frequented by tourists."
least 36 dead and dozens injured
A gun and bomb attack on Istanbul's Ataturk
international airport has killed 36 people and
injured more than 140, officials say.
Three attackers opened fire near an entry
point to the terminal and blew themselves up
after police fired at them, officials say.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said early signs
suggested the so-called Islamic State was
behind the attack.
Recent bombings have been linked to either IS
or Kurdish separatists.
Tuesday's attack looked like a major co-
ordinated assault, says the BBC's Mark
Lowen.
Ataturk airport was long seen as a vulnerable
target, our Turkey correspondent adds,
reporting from a plane stuck on the tarmac in
Istanbul.
There are X-ray scanners at the entrance to
the terminal but security checks for cars are
limited.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said
the attack should serve as a turning point in
the global fight against militant groups.
"The bombs that exploded in Istanbul today
could have gone off at any airport in any city
around the world," he said.
The US called the attack "heinous", and said
saying America remained "steadfast in our
support for Turkey".
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter
Steinmeier said: "We grieve for the victims. We
stand by Turkey".
How dangerous is Turkey's unrest?
Turkey caught in overlapping security
crises
Country profile: Turkey
'Dressed in black'
Speaking several hours after Tuesday's attack,
Mr Yildirim said at least 36 people were killed
and many wounded, some seriously.
He also said foreigners were likely to be
among the dead.
Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag put the number
of injured at 147.
Footage has emerged on social media that
appears to show a police officer shooting one
of the attackers, who detonates a suicide belt
as he is lying injured on the ground.
Flights in and out of the airport were
suspended after the attack.
The US Federal Aviation Administration
grounded all flights between the US and
Istanbul.
Taxis were used to rush casualties to hospital
after the attack.
Eyewitness Paul Roos told the Associated
Press news agency that he was due to fly
home to South Africa when the attackers
struck.
"We came up from the arrivals to the
departures, up the escalator when we heard
these shots going off," he said.
"There was this guy going roaming around, he
was dressed in black and he had a handgun."
Charles Michel, the Prime Minister of Belgium
whose capital city was targeted by bombers in
March , tweeted from the EU summit in
Brussels: "Our thoughts are with the victims of
the attacks at Istanbul's airport. We condemn
these atrocious acts of violence."
In December, a blast on the tarmac at a
different Istanbul airport, Sabiha Gokcen,
killed a cleaner. That attack was claimed by a
Kurdish group, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons
(TAK).
Major recent attacks
2016
7 June, Istanbul: Car bomb kills seven police
officers and four civilians. Claimed by Kurdish
militant group TAK
19 March, Istanbul: Suicide bomb kills four
people in shopping street. IS blamed.
13 March, Ankara: Car bomb kills 34. Claimed
by TAK.
17 February, Ankara: 29 killed in attack on
military busses. Claimed by TAK
12 January, Istanbul: 11 Germans killed by
Syrian bomber in tourist area
2015
23 December, Istanbul: Bomb kills cleaner at
Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport. Claimed by
TAK
10 October, Ankara: More than 100 killed at
peace rally outside railway station. Claimed
by IS
20 July, Suruc, near Syrian border: 34 people
killed in bombing in Kurdish town. IS blamed
Security concerns and a Russian boycott over
last year's downing of a Russian military jet
on the Turkey-Syria border have hit the
Turkish tourist sector this year.
More than 61 million passengers travelled
through Ataturk airport in 2015.
A US state department travel warning for
Turkey, originally published in March and
updated on Monday, urges US citizens to
"exercise heightened vigilance and caution
when visiting public access areas, especially
those heavily frequented by tourists."
