Istanbul – A selfie video taken by the suspect in the Istanbul nightclub attack emerged on Tuesday as a manhunt for the killer of 39 people at the New Year’s Eve party intensified.
The 42-second video shows the suspect’s face clearly as he walks around an area described by Turkish media as near Taksim Square in the heart of Istanbul.
Police suspect the man of spraying bullets inside the waterfront Reina nightclub, killing mostly foreigners and wounding dozens more. Anti-terrorism units conducted an operation in Istanbul on Monday night in their attempt to find the suspect, local media reported.
Helicopters flew overhead and streets were blocked during the operation, the Dogan news agency reported, however no information about arrests was provided. Eight suspects have so far been detained in relation to the attack, the state-run Anadolu agency reported previously.
A selfie video taken by the suspect in the Istanbul nightclub attack has emerged as a manhunt for the killer of 39 people at the New Year’s Eve party intensifies. The 42-second video shows the suspect’s face clearly as he walks around an area described by Turkish media as near Taksim Square in the heart of Istanbul. Image: Dha / Depo Photos / ZUMA
The Islamic State terrorist group claimed that a member of the group had carried out the shooting.
The attack was carried out in response to an order from the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, to target Turkey, according to the statement on Monday. dpa could not independently verify the authenticity of the statement, but it appeared consistent with previous claims by the group.
Turkish military operations against Islamic State in northern Syria were continuing in the wake of the attack, with 150 targets hit, and some 18 “terrorists” killed in the last 24 hours, Anadolu reported.
Turkey and allied Syrian rebel forces invaded Islamic State-held areas of northern Syria in August, forcing the extremist group from its last stretch of the border between the two countries.
Authorities in Turkey were meanwhile investigating hundreds of social media accounts in the wake of the nightclub attack, accusing them of spreading hatred online.
A total of 347 accounts were being investigated, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said, according to Anadolu.
-dpa
