Several killed in Istanbul bomb blast

Turkish deputy premier said the attack on Istanbul’s tourist heart on Tuesday 12th January was carried out by a 28-year-old Syrian suicide-bomber, adding that out of the ten victims, nine were German, and one was from Peru. Police forces have reportedly found mechanical parts in the area that further confirm the use of suicide bomber tactics.

The Islamic State group are being held responsible for a suicide blast that hit Istanbul’s main tourist district Tuesday, killing at least 10 people, not including the bomber, and wounding another 15, Turkey’s prime minister said.

The group has never claimed an attack in Turkey. At the same time, British Prime Minister David Cameron also expressed his condolences to President Erdogan of Turkey following the attacks while German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke on the phone with Davutoglu. A spokesman for Davutoglu was not immediately available.

Speaking in Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the “terrorist” attack and said that, according to an assessment, a person with Syrian origins was the perpetrator. He recently entered Turkey through Syria, officials said. Given where the bombing took place, many foreigners visiting the city were hurt.

At least nine of the wounded were German nationals. “Ankara has been hit before”, Ms Merkel told reporters in Berlin.

Around 10:15 a.m. on Tuesday morning, an explosion shook Sultanahmet, the tourist district in Istanbul known for housing the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.

Germany has warned its citizens to avoid crowds outside tourist attractions in Istanbul. Ankara has also been accused of covertly backing radical opposition groups operating in northern Syria that have been fighting Islamic State jihadists and Kurds.

But Kurdish militants and left-wing groups are also active in Turkey. Turkey opened its bases to US aircraft to launch air raids on the extremist group in Syria and has carried out a limited number of strikes on the group itself.

“Turkish people and all political forces must stand united against terrorists and against all those who try to destabilize a country that is facing many threats”, European Union officials said.

Police cordoned off the area to protect people against the possibility of a second explosion.

“Blood and flesh were spattered on us and I am sure I saw six or seven people laying on the ground dead…” he said.

Turkey’s DHA news agency reported, via the Guardian, that the attacker was actually Saudi Arabian, citing security sources, but did not provide more details. In July 2015, a bomb attack in the border town of Suruc left 34 pro-Kurdish and Left-wing activists killed.

The private Dogan news agency says at least two people were hospitalized following an explosion in the historic center of Istanbul.

He placed the blame for the attacks squarely with Islamic State in a nationally televised address. “Actually there’s been no ban on reporting anything here in Turkey”.