Turkish official: Mastermind of Feb “terror attack” killed

Security and ambulances block the road outside Turkey’s largest airport, Istanbul Ataturk, after it was hit by a suicide bomb attack on June 28, 2016, Turkey.

Russians deployed brutal tactics in Chechnya, which radicalized the insurgents and moved them in an Islamist and militant direction, said Bergen, a CNN national security analyst.

Nilsu Ozmeric wept over the coffin of her fiance, Jusuf Haznedaroglu, a 32-year-old airport worker who was fatally wounded while waiting for a bus to go home.

CCTV of a man believed to be one of the attackers at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport.

In Paris, the Eiffel Tower was illuminated in the red-and-white colors of the Turkish flag to honor the victims in Istanbul.

Tunisian state media reported that he was in Turkish custody and was expected to be returned to Tunisia, citing an unnamed Tunisian foreign ministry official.

Turkish media said the trio was part of a seven-person cell who entered Turkey on May 25.

They were stuck for a while, and then had to walk out through the attack area. Five Turkish police officers died.

Turkey’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said initial indications suggest Daesh was responsible for the attack.

Chemist and explosives expert at University of Rhode Island, Jimmie Oxley, described as being military-grade, raising the question of how the attackers obtained the bombs.

More broadly, Istanbul shows that the threat of major, coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic State has not been much diminished by successes such as the recent recapture of the Iraqi city of Fallujah, or the killing of senior Islamic State commanders and organizers in US raids and drone strikes.

The Izmir raids unfolded simultaneously in the Konak, Bucak, Karabaglar and Bornova neighbourhoods, according to the Anadolu Agency.

Paying his respects at the Permanent Mission of Turkey to the United Nations in NY, the Secretary-General extended his deepest condolences to the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.

It said the nine were accused of financing, recruiting and providing logistical support to the Sunni extremist group widely believed to be behind Tuesday’s triple bombing of Istanbul’s main airport.

One of the suspects, named as Mohammad Arab, was planning an attack either in the Turkish capital Ankara or in the southern city of Adana, Dogan added. Erdogan was referring to Syrian Kurdish militia, which Ankara accuses of being a terror organization due to their affiliation with Turkey’s Kurdish rebels, and to the IS group by its Arabic name. Lori Hinnant in Paris, Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed reporting.