Another terrorist attack in Istanbul. This time to come under attack is the largest airport in Turkey to come under attack, where yesterday at least 3 terrorists armed with Kalashnikovs opened fire around 22 pm at the security checkpoints in the arrivals area of Ataturk airport, causing 42 deaths and 238 injured (many are in serious condition, while 109 have already been discharged). Shortly thereafter, they blew themselves up during a firefight with police.
The commando, according to police sources, would have been made up of a total of 7 people, of which 3 others would be on the run and one arrested. The autopsy on the bodies of the three attackers has been completed. Their identity has not yet been disclosed, but according to sources of the investigation they are foreign citizens, while the person arrested last night by the Turkish police on suspicion of belonging in some way to the commando is a woman.
However, the investigations, which point straight towards the jihadist trail, are just at the beginning. According to the government, however, everything would lead to ISIS. There were at least three explosions heard in the airport, one of which is documented by this video:
Airport entrances and exits were immediately closed, while several incoming flights were diverted elsewhere and outgoing ones cancelled. Among the 41 confirmed victims of the attack, in addition to Turkish citizens, there would be 5 Saudis - including at least 3 also with Turkish citizenship -, two Iraqis, a Tunisian, an Uzbek, a Chinese, an Iranian, a Ukrainian and a Jordanian.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the attack, recalling that it took place during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Messages of solidarity have reached Turkey from all over the world.
Just 20 days ago, Istanbul was hit by another bomb attack near the State University, which left 12 dead and was claimed by the Kurdish extremist group Tak. In January and March, another 2 terrorist actions attributed to ISIS: the one in the tourist center of Sultanahmet, where 12 Germans died, and the one in the Istiklal shopping street, which killed 4 tourists.
Another 2 attacks this year hit the capital Ankara, with dozens of dead, while more than 100 people were killed in the October 10 attack against a pro-Kurdish march, also in the Turkish capital. Now, this new attack also risks giving the final blow to tourism, which in May had recorded its worst collapse since 1994.
