Suicide bombers killed at least 31 people at Istanbul’s main international airport, the latest in a wave of violent attacks as the country battles Islamist militants and Kurdish separatists.
Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin said three suicide bombers took part in the attack late Tuesday near security checkpoints at the entrance to Ataturk Airport’s arrivals hall. Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said at least 31 deaths have been confirmed, with 147 people injured.
Bozdag earlier told lawmakers in parliament that one attacker had sprayed gunfire from a Kalashnikov rifle at people around him before blowing himself up. None of the attackers got past the security controls, according to a Turkish official who asked not to be identified because he’s not authorized to talk to the press. He said two of them detonated their vests at the arrival hall, and a third in a nearby parking lot.
The airport was closed to incoming flights and all road traffic. Turkish Airlines, the national carrier, said in an e-mail that it’s suspended all flights until 8 am local time on Wednesday.
“First I heard the gunfire, then the explosions,” said Koray Arslan, who was at the nearby domestic terminal. “They were very powerful. I could feel the tremors under my feet.”
While there was no immediate claim of responsibility, Turkey’s Dogan news agency cited unidentified police officials saying that Islamic State is believed to be behind the attack. Both Islamist and Kurdish militants have carried out bomb attacks in Turkey in recent months, hammering the nation’s vital tourism industry. Turkey has been hit by spillover from the civil war in neighboring Syria, where Islamic State controls territory along the Turkish border, and the army is also fighting an escalating war with separatist Kurdish rebels.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an e-mailed statement that the Istanbul airport attack was an effort to hurt Turkey’s image. “For the terrorist organizations, there’s no difference between Istanbul and London, Ankara and Berlin, Izmir and Chicago, Antalya and Rome,” he said.
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Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin said three suicide bombers took part in the attack late Tuesday near security checkpoints at the entrance to Ataturk Airport’s arrivals hall. Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said at least 31 deaths have been confirmed, with 147 people injured.
Bozdag earlier told lawmakers in parliament that one attacker had sprayed gunfire from a Kalashnikov rifle at people around him before blowing himself up. None of the attackers got past the security controls, according to a Turkish official who asked not to be identified because he’s not authorized to talk to the press. He said two of them detonated their vests at the arrival hall, and a third in a nearby parking lot.
The airport was closed to incoming flights and all road traffic. Turkish Airlines, the national carrier, said in an e-mail that it’s suspended all flights until 8 am local time on Wednesday.
“First I heard the gunfire, then the explosions,” said Koray Arslan, who was at the nearby domestic terminal. “They were very powerful. I could feel the tremors under my feet.”
While there was no immediate claim of responsibility, Turkey’s Dogan news agency cited unidentified police officials saying that Islamic State is believed to be behind the attack. Both Islamist and Kurdish militants have carried out bomb attacks in Turkey in recent months, hammering the nation’s vital tourism industry. Turkey has been hit by spillover from the civil war in neighboring Syria, where Islamic State controls territory along the Turkish border, and the army is also fighting an escalating war with separatist Kurdish rebels.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an e-mailed statement that the Istanbul airport attack was an effort to hurt Turkey’s image. “For the terrorist organizations, there’s no difference between Istanbul and London, Ankara and Berlin, Izmir and Chicago, Antalya and Rome,” he said.
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