13 Detained over Istanbul Airport Attack

Local Editor

Turkey Thursday detained 13 suspected Daesh [the Arabic acronym for the terrorist "ISIS" group] extremists over the deadly Istanbul airport attack, as chilling details emerged of how suicide bombers launched their assault.

Meanwhile, the death toll from Tuesday's gun and suicide bomb spree at Ataturk airport has risen to 42, state-run news agency Anadolu said, with 13 foreigners among the dead and more than 200 people injured.

Turkey has been plunged into mourning over the carnage at Ataturk airport, the deadliest yet of several attacks to strike Turkey's biggest city this year.

In this respect, police said it carried out 16 raids across Istanbul early Thursday with three foreign nationals among the "Daesh suspects" detained.

Turkey suffered a string of deadly attacks in the past year blamed on either Daesh or the Kurdish rebels, and the airport attack came just at the start of the crucial summer tourist season.

For his part, Interior Minister Efkan Ala told reporters late Wednesday there was an ongoing "serious and comprehensive investigation" into who was behind the attack.
"First signs point to Daesh, but it's not certain yet."

In parallel, CIA director John Brennan said the attack, which sparked international condemnation, bore the "hallmark" of the extremist group.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team