Turkish police "closing in" on Reina attacker

  • 7 years ago
Turkish police say they are closing in on the man alleged to have killed 39 people in an attack on an Istanbul nightclub on New Year’s Day.

Authorities have described him as a “specially trained” member of a cell who acted alone and say they are building up a picture of who’s also connected to the suspect.

“Our security forces have identified the terrorist. His potential whereabouts are also established. Probably, he is an Uighur but I don’t want to comment on his nationality for the moment,” said Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak.

According to the state run Anadolu news agency police have also detained several suspects linked to the shooting after conducting a raid in a town on the edge of Istanbul on Thursday morning.

The Islamic State group says it carried out the attack in revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria.