Turkey Detains 3 Russians in anti-ISIS Raid After Istanbul Bombing

A suicide bomber of Syrian origin blew himself up in Istanbul’s historic Sultanahmet district on Tuesday morning, killing 10 tourists, majority Germans, in an attack blamed on Islamic State (IS) jihadists.

Turkey has detained 68 suspected members of the so-called Islamic State jihadist group in raids across the country, according to state media.

“Turkey is working to find the true actors behind this attack where Daesh (ISIS) was used as a subcontractor”, he added, without explaining further.

The government said the attack was carried out by a 28-year-old Syrian man who was an ISIS member and had recently entered Turkey from Syria.

Russia’s consulate confirmed that three citizens had been detained while a source in one of the country’s security agencies told the TASS news agency that there was evidence proving they “had links or participated in foreign terror groups”.

Seven Germans are still recovering from their injuries, five of them in intensive care, she added.

On Wednesday, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told journalists that police had identified the suicide bomber, but did not supply a name.

Turkish Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdag said that authorities were working to identify people connected to the attacker.

Yesterday, Turkish police also arrested 13 suspected IS militants, including three Russian nationals, a day after the bombing in Istanbul’s historic Sultanahmet district.

Ala said nine other Germans were wounded in the blast, two of them still in a serious condition in hospital, along with one Norwegian and one Peruvian.

The foreign ministry in Berlin said Wednesday all 10 of those killed in the attack were German. During the explosion, ten people were killed and fifteen injured, most of whom were foreign tourists.

“In the current stage of the investigation, there is no indication that the attack was targeted against Germans”, he said. The state-run Anadolu Agency said the suspects were allegedly in contact with IS fighters in conflict zones and had provided logistical support to the group. Furthermore he said, “I see no reason to interrupt your travel in Turkey or to cancel your travel to Turkey…” He said Germany stood resolutely by Turkey’s side in the fight against terrorism.

Information from The Washington Post was included in this story.

The Turkish Prime Minister accused Russian Federation of supposedly striking at civilian targets in Syria, the newspaper Vzglyad reports.

A previous version of this story has been corrected to show that the German interior minister’s surname is Maiziere, not Maziere.