Reuters-Islamic State
claimed responsibility on Monday for a New Year's Day mass shooting in a packed
Istanbul nightclub that killed 39 people, an attack carried out by a
lone
gunman who remains at large.
It described the
Reina nightclub, where many foreigners as well as Turks were killed, as a
gathering point for Christians celebrating their "apostate holiday".
The attack, it said, was revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria.
"The apostate
Turkish government should know that the blood of Muslims shed with airplanes
and artillery fire will, with God's permission, ignite a fire in their own
land," the Islamic State declaration said.
There was no
immediate comment from Turkish officials.
The jihadist group
has been blamed for at least half a dozen attacks on civilian targets in Turkey
over the past 18 months but, other than targeted assassinations, this is the
first time it has directly claimed any of them. It made the statement on one of
its Telegram channels, a method used after attacks elsewhere.
NATO member Turkey
is part of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State and launched an
incursion into neighboring Syria in August to drive the radical Sunni militants
from its borders, sending in tanks and special forces backed by fighter jets.
Nationals of Saudi
Arabia, Morocco, Lebanon, Libya, Israel, India, a Turkish-Belgian dual citizen
and a Franco-Tunisian woman were among those killed at the exclusive nightclub
on the shores of the Bosphorus waterway. Twenty-five of the dead were
foreigners, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Police distributed a
hazy black-and-white photo of the alleged gunman taken from security footage.
State broadcaster TRT Haber said eight people had been detained in Istanbul.
The authorities
believe the attacker may be from a Central Asian nation and suspect he had
links to Islamic State, the Hurriyet newspaper said. It said he may be from the
same cell responsible for a gun-and-bomb attack on Istanbul's main airport in
June, in which 45 people were killed and hundreds wounded.
The attack at Reina,
popular with Turkish celebrities and wealthy visitors, shook Turkey as it tries
to recover from a failed July coup and a series of deadly bombings in Istanbul
and elsewhere, some blamed on Islamic State, others claimed by Kurdish
militants.
Around 600 people
were thought to be inside when the gunman shot dead a policeman and civilian at
the door, forcing his way in then opening fire with an automatic assault rifle.
Witnesses said he shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest).
Some at the club
jumped into the Bosphorus after the attacker began shooting at random just over
an hour into the new year. Witnesses described diving under tables as he walked
around spraying bullets.
KALASHNIKOV IN
SUITCASE
The attacker was
believed to have taken a taxi from the southern Zeytinburnu district of
Istanbul and, because of the busy traffic, got out and walked the last four
minutes to the entrance of the nightclub, newspaper Haberturk said.
He pulled his
Kalashnikov rifle from a suitcase at the side of the road, opened fire on those
at the door, then threw two hand grenades after entering, Haberturk said,
without citing its sources. It said six empty magazines were found at the scene
and that he was estimated to have fired at least 180 bullets.
Security services
had been on alert across Europe for new year celebrations following an attack
on a Christmas market in Berlin that killed 12 people. Only days ago, an online
message from a pro-Islamic State group called for attacks by "lone
wolves" on "celebrations, gatherings and clubs".
In a statement hours
after the shooting, President Tayyip Erdogan said such attacks aimed to create
chaos and destabilize the country.
Four months into its
operation in Syria, the Turkish army and the rebels it backs are besieging the
Islamic State-held town of al-Bab. Erdogan has said he wants them to continue
to Raqqa, the jihadists' Syrian stronghold.
Turkey has also been
cracking down on Islamic State networks at home. In counter-terrorism
operations between Dec 26-Jan 2, Turkish police detained 147 people over links
to the group and formally arrested 25 of them, the interior ministry said.
The New Year's Day
attack came five months after a failed military coup, in which more than 240
people were killed, many of them in Istanbul, as rogue soldiers commandeered
tanks and fighter jets in a bid to seize power.
More than 100,000
people, including soldiers and police officers, have been sacked or suspended
in a subsequent crackdown ordered by Erdogan, raising concern both about civic
rights and the effectiveness of Turkey's security apparatus.
The government says
the purges will make the military, police and other institutions more
disciplined and effective.
Turkey has seen
repeated attacks in recent weeks. On Dec. 10, two bombs claimed by Kurdish
militants exploded outside a soccer stadium in Istanbul, killing 44 people. A
security guard who survived that attack was killed at Reina.
A car bomb killed at
least 13 soldiers and wounded 56 when it ripped through a bus carrying off-duty
military personnel in the central city of Kayseri a week later, an attack
Erdogan also blamed on Kurdish militants.
Islamic State's Amaq
website said the group was behind a car bomb attack that killed 11 people and
wounded 100 in the city of Diyarbakir in November, but Turkish authorities
denied this and said Kurdish militants carried out the attack.
The Russian
ambassador to Turkey was shot dead as he gave a speech in Ankara on Dec. 19 by
an off-duty police officer who shouted "Don't forget Aleppo" and
"Allahu Akbar".
Reuters
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