DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,
Anadolu Agency says police have arrested ‘the person who left the bomb’ that exploded on Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue.
Turkish police have arrested a suspect in the bombing in central Istanbul that left at least six people dead and 81 others wounded, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told the news agency on Monday that the suspect in custody was the “person who left the bomb that caused the explosion” on a busy thoroughfare in Turkey’s largest city.
#URGENT Person who left bomb that caused explosion Sunday on Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue arrested by police, says Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu pic.twitter.com/I08OTC4rPb
— ANADOLU AGENCY (@anadoluagency) November 14, 2022
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had previously described Sunday’s attack on Istiklal avenue as “treacherous” and said it “smells like terrorism”.
He said initial information suggested that a “woman had played a part” in the attack.
Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag later told A Haber television that the woman was seen sitting on one of the benches on Istiklal Avenue for more than 40 minutes. The explosion occurred just minutes after she got up.
“There are two possibilities,” he told A Haber. “There’s either a mechanism placed in this bag and it explodes, or someone remotely explodes [it]”.
Al Jazeera has obtained pictures of the woman suspected to be behind the bombing.
#الجزيرة تحصل على صور من زوايا مختلفة للسيدة المشتبه في أنها تقف وراء هجوم #اسطنبول pic.twitter.com/DgdojrKMMY
— قناة الجزيرة (@AJArabic) November 13, 2022
Sinem Koseoglu, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Turkey, said officials believe she is a member of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK).
Koseoglu said officials believe two young men were also involved.
Sumber: www.aljazeera.com