Türkiye Detains Syrian Suspected Bomber, Accuses Kurdish Group of Istanbul Attack

Last Update
14-Nov-2022
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Asharq Al-Awsat

Türkiye on Monday accused the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) of carrying out a deadly bomb attack in Istanbul, saying a Syrian woman was in custody suspected of planting the device.

The bombing killed six people and wounded 81 others in the popular shopping street of Istiklal Avenue on Sunday shortly after 4:00 pm (1300 GMT).

There has been no claim of responsibility.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the bombing a "vile attack" that had the "smell of terror".

A nine-year old girl and her father, as well as a 15-year-old girl and her mother were among those killed in the attack.

Istanbul police said Monday that 46 people had been detained in total.

Erdogan's government accused the PKK of carrying out the explosion shortly before the president landed in the Indonesian resort island of Bali for the G20 summit.

Police footage shared with Turkish media showed a young woman in a purple sweatshirt being apprehended in an Istanbul flat.

"The person who planted the bomb has been arrested," interior minister Suleyman Soylu said in a statement broadcast by the official Anadolu news agency early Monday.

- 'Order from Kobane' -

Turkish police quoted by private NTV television, said the chief suspect is a Syrian woman working for Kurdish militants.

"According to our findings, the PKK terrorist organization is responsible," Soylu said.

"We believe that the order for the attack was given from Kobane," he said, referring to a city in Syria near the Turkish border.

NTV shared an image taken from a surveillance camera, showing a young woman dressed in trousers and wearing a loose black scarf running away in the crowd, referred to as the bomber.

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