Turkey detains 5 suspects in attack
ISTANBUL— Turkish police on Wednesday detained at least five suspected Islamic State (IS) group militants believed to be linked to the deadly Istanbul nightclub attack, the state-run news agency reported.
The operation was launched in the Aegean port city of Izmir and was ongoing, Anadolu Agency said.
The gunman, who killed 39 people during NewYear’s celebrations, hasn’t been publicly named and is still at large. But Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said authorities had identified the man, without providing details.
IS has claimed responsibility for the attack, which also wounded nearly 70 people. Most of those killed were foreigners from the Middle East.
The private Dogan news agency said the police operation targeted three families who had arrived in Izmir about 20 days ago from Konya—a city in central Turkey where the gunman is thought to have been based before carrying out the nightclub attack. It said 27 people, including women and children, were taken into custody.
At least 14 people were previously detained in connection with the attack, including two foreigners stopped on Tuesday at the international terminal of Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport after police checked their cellphones and luggage, according to Anadolu.
An eerie video emerged on Tuesday of a man believed to be the attacker, showing him taking a selfie as he silently toured Istanbul’s most famous square.
The camera never leaves the man’s unsmiling face as he walked through Taksim Square during the 44-second clip that was broadcast on state-run Anadolu television and other Turkish media.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the video was made before or after the New Year’s massacre at the Reina nightclub, or how it was obtained.
On Monday, the Islamic State group said a “soldier of the caliphate” had carried out the mass shooting to avenge Turkish military operations against IS in northern Syria.
Funerals began on Tuesday in Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and Turkey for the dead, most of them tourists. Mourners wept for the lives that were cut short in the early hours of 2017 at the popular and glamorous club.