Istanbul Ataturk airport attack: 41 dead and 239 injured in ‘hideous’ suicide bombings in Turkey

  • Three suicide bombers strike Istanbul Ataturk airport
  • Around 41 people killed and 230 wounded
  • Turkey PM says Islamic State most likely suspects
  • Third busiest airport in Europe, high security location
  • Istanbul Ataturk airport attack in pictures

The death toll from a triple suicide bombing at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport rose to 41 dead and 230 injured on Wednesday, as Turkish investigators pored through video footage to identify the killers.
Five Saudis, two Iraqis and citizens from China, Jordan, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Iran and Ukraine were among 13 foreigners dead.
The attack on Europe’s third-busiest airport was the deadliest in a series of suicide bombings this year in Turkey, part of the US-led coalition against Islamic State and struggling to contain spillover from neighbouring Syria’s war.
On Wednesday, Turkish media released pictures of what they said were two of the three men behind they attack as they walked into the airport earlier on Tuesday night. One of the men appears young, dressed in a puffa jacket. The other, in a separate photograph, appears to be holding a gun.
President Tayyip Erdogan said the attack should serve as a turning point in the global fight against terrorism, which he said had “no regard for faith or values”.
“For terrorist organisations, there is no difference between Istanbul and London, Ankara and Berlin, Izmir and Chicago or Antalya,” Mr Erdogan said in a TV address. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but Turkish officials were quick to lay blame at Islamic State’s door.
The attack did bear the hallmarks of an Isil state attack, mirroring the bombing at Zaventem airport in Brussels claimed by the group three months earlier.
Isil had called for attacks during the holy month of Ramadan, and have focused attention on Turkey, which is currently bidding to join the European Union. As many as 2.5 million Britons travel to Turkey each year, although the number of tourists is thought to have declined in recent months following a spate of Isil attacks in the country.

News Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ (By Chiara Palazzo and Jessica Winch)

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